I have always sucked at gift giving but the thing is, I try - and I try hard. I often find myself giving gifts that I find interesting and hopefully, has an impact -
yung may arrive ba! In short,
mayabang akong magregalo. So needless to say, finding the perfect christmas gift for family (and really close friends) has been my favorite holiday pastime ever since I could afford it.
This year, I have avoided the Christmas rush by shopping early. Well technically, I avoided the Christmas rush by not being in the Philippines, period. In fact, my box - yes, the classic Balikbayan Box - has been picked up by the courier company as early as the first week of November. The other day, the box finally arrived at our house. Of course, my mom was so excited that Christmas came in early for them this year - dinamay pa ako kasi I received a series of messages on my phone very early in the morning.
"Tristan, dumating na yung kahon na pinadala mo...", so typed my mom.
Three things came to mind immediately. First, it was just effin five thirty in the morning. Second, I hate it when my mom types in my name on each and every text message she sends me. I really don't know if she does that to deliberately annoy me or to remind me that my name is really not Tristan. Blogger's Note: I am always this irritable when you wake me up in the morning, so beware. And third, if the box - that magical Balikbayan box - arrived intact.
Sleepy as I was, I reached for the phone and called home. My mom picked up.
"O Tristan, andito na yung kahon na pinadala mo!", she sounded excited.
"Uhmm yeah 'Nay, tinext mo na, di ba?". I wanted to blurt out but stopped myself.
I quickly ignored the first two things in my head and went straight to the third thing.
"Dumating ba ng maayos?", I asked instead.
Good thing it did, I was told. I breathed a sigh of relief.
And so my mom started to make kwento na while she was opening the box. I, on the other hand, tried not to fall asleep on the other line. While she removed the countless layers of packing tape, she told me how the box arrived, with every single detail that she could squeeze in. She asked me what was inside the box . I pretended not to remember what I had crammed into it so as to avoid unnecessary discussions so early in the morning. In reality, however, I distinctly, remember each and every single item I sent. I even remember how I packed them all in, for crying out loud.
I had imagined how they would all look like when they first see the box - how overwhelming it was; when they get to hold their individual gifts; how they would carefully take out everything in that magical box and arrange them carefully on the table, just under the tree, as if they were real gifts. If you think I'm strange, wait until you get to meet my family. Haha.
"Nay, bawal isangla yung bag na yan ah...", I reminded my mom when she finally got hold of her fabulous Nine Wests - which her fabulous gay son has carefully picked amongst a pile of fabulous bags - on top of the stack
I laughed as I had imagined that she had probably searched the bag (and purse) in search of dough. Pero, shempre, pasimple lang.
"Nay, walang pera yan... nasa ATM na...", I jokingly told her.
She laughed and said that she loved the bag. That was until she saw everything else. She giggled over Spam - the quintessential Filipino de lata, along with a whole gamut of imported de latas that I had carefully picked out to capture the true essence of a Filipino box. Name it, I probably have it there.
"Nay, walang deadline ang consumption ng Spam ah...", I jokingly said since I am very certain that Spam would be the food of choice until it was all consumed.
She was surprised at how big the iced tea, coffee, and creamer canisters were. She was so tickled over humongous bottles of mouthwash and packs of really nice toothbrushes. I heard screams as they unpacked several dozens of "imported" chocolates which I bought just on crazy sale day, days before Halloween. Go figure.
"Nay, hindi din required ubusin lahat ng chocolates in one day ah...", I continued with my reminders.
And then I heard my dad on the phone. My dad is a classic - pasimple din. He refuses to dive in the box in search of his gift. But he always knows that something's there specially for him. Needless to say, my dad is really a character.
"Tay, yung shoes na rubber sa yo...", I told him.
When he finally saw his new pair of mountaineering shoes - yes, my dad loves going to our farm in bon-doks which explains the shoes - I was told that he quickly tried it on and walked around on it the whole day. Needless to say, he loved it. Of course, pasimple pa din sya. All he could muster was a restrained laugh and a brief thank you. I was already happy with just 2-second pause when he saw his shoes - so the restrained laugh and thank you combo was already beyond expectations.
And then my sister - yes, she's doing very well again - giggled as she got hold of her new gadget - a hot pink iPod Nano. She also tried to hog the lotions I also tucked in the boxes - well, those were really for her anyway.
Oh and my youngest brother, I was told, refused to let go of his Black Nano since he got it. I was actually having second thoughts about giving him one since, as it is, he already refuses to socialize - he's an introvert of sorts. I may have given him another reason not to do so with this new gadget. He does not know this yet but he's getting his laptop next year when I go home.
My other brother (green Nano) and sister (violet Nano) were as ecstatic with their own gadgets as the other two. I am a fair Kuya so if one gets an iPod, everybody does - and they all got new shoes to match their gadgets - weird no? Model din pala silang lahat ng Sketchers this year. Haha.
This year, I celebrated Christmas early and so did my family. As I hung up the phone, I felt happy. And for the first time since I got here, I remembered why I chose to work abroad - I felt better.
I may have provided everyone back home with things beyond their own wallets, but those gifts were really not for them - they were for me - because, my gift of choice is to know that they are happy.
***
Today, someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas.
"True love.", I jokingly replied.
I meant it.
***
A Merry Rainbow Christmas to everyone. Stay happy!
