First, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone how was expressed their love and support at this time of family’s history. I thanked people on Facebook, but thank you also and again, to those of you who read my blog, commented, emailed, and messaged. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Maia, Paolo’s older sister, and one of my very close cousins (in age, location, and partner-in-crime status) arrived back to her apartment in NYC with her husband Zach, after spending some weeks in Manila with the rest of her family. They came back just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, so my mom’s side of the family who is here in the States all came over to my parent’s house in CT and went boating.

This is my dad, my younger cousin Angela (interning with a fashion designer in NYC), my cousin-in-law Dino, and Maia – and all of us look super cool in our Ray Bans. Angela and my niece and her mother, Criselle, enjoying the day and the boat.
My family loves food. I love food. A lot. A little too much, maybe. But when we get together, we eat! My mom can’t eat lobsters if she cooks them, so she sacrificed her seafood dinner to make one for us. In the past couple years, my dad has become something of a chef too, and a master griller – his pork chops are super yum. Special thanks to yours truly for grating the zest of 6 lemons.
Because of all the overseas conversations, our house turns into something of an internet cafe and clogs up the bandwith in my parents house (which is why you don’t often hear from me when I’m home). And, surprise! On Memorial Day morning, Criselle and Dino decided to cook for us a Filipino style breakfast. Corned beef hashed (with no pre-added potatoes!) with onions, fried on the skillet, and a torta. Sophie wouldn’t let me go near her while she was “helping” with “chopping” for the breakfast. But she perked up considerably at the parade. And last. My mother’s co-teachers had given her a potted rosebush with their condolences. It was only a week or so ago, but it’s already started to bloom. I love my huge family and I think the fact that there are SO many of us has really helped all of us at this time. Though I know they wish they were in Manila, I’m thankful for all my cousins who are here on the East Coast for miscellaneous reasons. I’m thankful for the egroup my family has so that we’re always in the know with everyone’s lives, here and in the Philippines. I’m thankful for the insane number of photos my family takes and for our corny Christmas presentations that someone always video tapes, so that we have more tangible memories to reminisce on.

And thank you, again, everyone, and best wishes to everyone.