The Giver of Families

Last Valentines' Day together.

While alone at my Lola's house in Leyte, I was looking at Lolo and Lola's pictures - the one wherein they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and the one wherein they spent their last Valentines' Day together.

I was particularly looking at Lolo Dado. He was never the perfect man. He used to be a violent drunkard who spanked his children really hard, he should have expected a death full of hatred and remorse from his children - and eventually (I suppose), his grandchildren.

But the love of God changed everything about our family. 

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Tonight, I was just so overwhelmed with the food and presence of loved ones during a special dinner we hosted for my cousin's birthday and as a send-off for my uncle's family who will be going back to London in two days.

I was particularly enjoying my two cousins, Nicko and Ninin (ages 5 and 2 respectively), whose playfulness and youth simply made me happy. They have been staying at our home for three days now and I have been looking forward to go home from the office because of them.

Ninin was adorably a younger version of me. This morning, I was fixing her hair. She was behaved and was totally feeling it. They say that combing the hair is one of the most affectionate acts a mother can do to her daughter. (Okay. I was feeling it too! Haha.) Afterwards, she just embraced and cuddled me. It was one of the most wonderful feelings - a child finding comfort in your arms. :)

I was actually starting to think of having cute little ones like her someday too.

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Re-reading Exodus, I stumbled upon one particular verse, which I have not given attention to when I first went through it. It says:

Meet Arla version 2010 aka "Ninin"

"God was good to the nurses (who helped Hebrew women give birth and let the boys live despite the Egypt's king's order)... Because the nurses feared God, He gave them families of their own." - Exodus 1:21 (notes mine)

God is the One who gives families. And tonight, I just have to go to my room and personally thank God for giving me a family such as what I have now.

My grandparents aren't perfect. So are my uncles and aunts. My parents aren't either. So are my siblings. Not even me.

But I pray to the Heavenly Father - the Giver of Families - for His love to swell in our hearts just as the waters cover the sea. Let Him continually save our families, the present and those that will be added in the future. Let Him be our endless love. For without the Lord's goodness I do not know what kind of family I have now. And when the time comes that I have to build a family of my own, there wouldn't be any wiser thing to do but that to carry on the virtue of fearing Him and putting Him first - for this is the very virtue which led Him to give those nurses families of their own.

She Sucks "Sihi Shells"

Eating is one of the "leisurely activities" you can do in Leyte, primarily because the food that you encounter here are not the usual food that you get to eat in Manila.

One of those foods that I have become so fascinated with are "sihi shells."

Yummy and outlandish!

For people by the sea, this is instant food. According to my Nanay and Lola, if my Lolo was not able to get a good catch of fish for the day, they would just go to the seashore and look for these beauties. In fact, during my vacation in Leyte, whenever I would get a quick morning dip in the sea, I see a lot of mother-and-child tandems looking for sihi shells.

Your unlikely utensil: the pin.

These shells are best cooked with coconut milk and malunggay leaves. But, a lot of people don't know how to eat sihi shells. Most of them thought that they will have to suck it (like what you'll do with golden apple snails or suso). So, here's my after-lunch video on how to eat your sihi shells (I'm so sweaty here!):

Until next Leyte food blog. ;)

Almost Arlon

He came to our lives when I was five years old. My Nanay and Tatay just went to Odiongan, Romblon for a week and when they came back, they have with them a ten-day old boy.

The inquisitiveness and curiosity in me kept on asking Nanay who was the baby. She said he's our brother. I may not understand then that women should get pregnant first before they can have a baby, but I clearly sensed that Nanay is not telling the truth.

He's not my brother.

At five, I was insisting that he be named Arlon. During his baptism, the priest asked for his name. And I was throwing tantrums as I shout, "Arlon!" I don't know why I did that. It might be an instinct that I carry on the tradition of our names, which started with the first two letters of my father's - Arthur. But he was already given a name by his real family before we get to do that for him. Then, I heard my Nanay said, "Joel."

Later, we were told that he's my first cousin - the son of my father's brother. He bore the same family name as we do. But he knew - like we all knew - that we are not siblings.

Today, he turned 22. And I can only be thankful for him for letting us be his family. I would never know how painful it was when we introduced him to his real parents and siblings. But not once did he rebel or get angry at us. He took on the responsibility of running errands for us as Tatay's right-hand and quietly faced the challenges of growing up as a lone teenage boy in the house.

I am personally grateful because he has given me a chance to experience what is it like to have a brother. He said that I am his favorite sister. But whatever kindness and love I probably have showed him would never be enough for the role he willingly accepted when he was only 10 days old.

Just now, I discovered that Arlon is the male version of Arla. And when I wanted to name him such, I was actually declaring and accepting that he is an extension of my being.
 
Happy birthday, Joel. And though you may not bore the name as I wanted, I now understand why you were named such: "The Lord is God." You are a wonderful realization of that.

Joel giving his Father's Day gift to Tatay