Dreaming of cultivating shade-grown Benguet Arabica Coffee

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Shade grown coffee is coffee grown sustainably under a canopy of trees. I envision planting shade grown Benguet arabica under the canopy of Pine and Alnos trees.

It started with a cup of coffee on January 9, 2018,  just as we drove down from my husband’s hideaway somewhere in Benguet. My daughter reminded me that we needed to buy Benguet coffee at the Baguio Public market.  Sure, sure, I said.

I forgot how the coffee project idea  started but I remember dropping the question to my daughter:

“if you love coffee so much, maybe you should be a coffee farmer?” or was it “maybe you should plant coffee?”

benguet arabica coffee

This was the day we started our Benguet Arabica Coffee project idea.

All I knew about coffee is that Arabica is grown in high altitude mountains of Benguet and that my husband’s family had some vacant land. I also participated in two cupping sessions in Commune and Costa Coffee which brought back memories of my Food Technology college days.

I don’t know what popped up in my head that day. Maybe the cool climate and the pine trees gave that light bulb idea.

Or maybe walking along Luijoe’s meadow and surrounded by pine trees  gave me the inspiration. Maybe the universe  was whispering to me that morning to make use of the vacant land in my husband’s home province.

benguet arabica coffee

Before my daughter left for Europe, where she has been based the last five years, she wanted to know if we were up to coffee farming.  My husband readily agreed ,of course so I contacted my other daughter in Singapore , if she was in. Of course, she agreed.

So the dream was born…but where do we start?

benguet arabica coffee

My daughter came across “Coffee farming basics” by Chit Juan . Such an inspiring article. I knew Chit Juan because she is an advocate not only on coffee but on women entrepreneurs and social enterprise. I know she would be helpful.

I emailed her:

My 30 year old daughter, who is based in Germany is interested in coffee farming

how does one really start planting coffee? Our land is in Benguet..around 1000 meters elevation.

Do you have other resources on how to start coffee farming? An updated article?

Any information or leads will be helpful

Chit replied right away. She gave me the contact information of Professor Val Macanes of Benguet State University. Prof. Macanes otherwise known as the Professor of Coffee , replied to my text message and told me to meet him when I visit Trinidad, Benguet. My husband’s ancestral home is just near BSU. Another sign that our paths are meant to cross.

I am treading on a new journey. I know it will take three to five years to harvest the Arabica beans and that our family will need to study more about coffee farming, from bean to brew and everything in between.

So, why is the dream, cultivating shade-grown Benguet Coffee ? Well, I am going ahead of my journey . This was another discovery which I will blog in succeeding blog posts at benguetarabica.com and benguetarabica.coffee

Getting out of my comfort zone

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

“We are so accustomed to the comforts of “I cannot”, “I do not want to” and “it is too difficult” that we forget to realize when we stop doing things for ourselves and expect others to dance around us, we are not achieving greatness. We have made ourselves weak.” Pandora Poikilos, Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out

When I think of challenges and opportunities, I take a trip down memory lane to that time when I was a young girl trying to establish a career.

I could have stuck with my Food Technologist position because it is my bacherlor’s degree. At twenty one years old, I was a Production and Quality Control Supervisor for a candy manufacturer, which you know today as MENTOS. I found myself struggling with Tagalog and finally learning how to speak it ( though broken) in order to communicate with the workers. The daily sampling of all the sweet and chewy goodies and meeting production schedules felt like clockwork. Doing the same thing, day in and day out, in my white lab gown was not challenging enough. BORING! I felt my mind needed to learn something new which I can apply to my job. I wanted to do something different from Food Technology.

A Masters degree in Business Administration was the in-thing among my peers. Will a Food Technologist make it? Though I had a few units in Business and Accounting, I felt it was not enough. “Think out of the box” was what I needed to come up with the more “creative” solutions for case studies. Armed with new skills and knowledge, I was ready for a different career path.

researcher for SME financing

In 1981, I shifted careers. I was drawn to developmental work . Working as a researcher/consultant for UP Institute for Small Scale Industries (UP ISSI) and Small Enterprise Research Development Foundation (SERDEF) was a dream job because I can use my knowledge to help the country’s economy. During those days, I only had pencil and yellow pad to write my research and a typist for drafts and the final copy. I literally cut my draft and pasted onto a new sheet of paper during revisions.

One project that made me cry was this World Bank grant on a “Study on possible widening of the scope of Planter’s Bank Financing Activities for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises” in 1984. The WB was not happy with the study of the former Project Manager and I was tasked to revise it.

Yes, I knew how to research but I had zero knowledge about financial institutions. I called up my father who is a financial expert in Cebu and ranted that I had no idea what I was supposed to write. Just like any helpful father, he gave me articles or clippings about financial institutions. Daddy was my “internet” or source of information outside the library. Pouring over volumes of secondary data and analyzing the primary data, I finished the report. I re-wrote everything . With computers and the ease of printing these days, I cannot imagine how I came out with this study that consisted of so many pages.

research paper on financing for SMEs

Looking at my life 33 years ago reminds me that even at my golden age, I can move on to a new chapter. I kept this study as a trophy for myself, that I must always challenge myself. The only way to create change is by leaving your comfort zone. The only way for me to change my life and to change them for good is to relocate my comfort zone.

You can do it too. How?

You can change your life with repeated, specific action — the trick is actually going through with it all. Change your habits and sooner than you think you’ll find yourself within a new comfort zone — a comfort zone so far from your original comfort zone that you may have trouble understanding how it is that you were able to accomplish so much. And then you will have nothing but you and your inner drill sergeant to thank. Each of us has the power to change our lives. Most of us, however, rather remain comfortable.

I would have never attained a fraction of my potential if I stuck it out being safe and comfortable. As I embark on a new chapter of my life as a “Content Strategist” , I tell myself “you can make it happen.”

What have you done to go out of your comfort zone?

Pasko na Sinta Ko, It’s Christmas, my love

by ⋅ 6 Comments

There is something about Christmas carols sung by children. Their innocence and eager spirit shows the true meaning of the Christmas season.

 

manila children choir 1

During my stage mother days, I never tired of listening to my children sing over and over again. Singing is a tradition in my immediate family but sadly, I don’t have the voice yet I can tell if the singing is sharp.

Singing Christmas Carols has been a treasured family tradition. I remember the last Christmas I had with my mom. I was 18 years old then. All the 7 siblings gathered around the Yamaha organ as my late brother, Oscar played festive carols. Sometimes it was mom who accompanied the songs in the piano.

Those were the days when my two girls would readily sing in front of me. Good thing Manila Children’s Choir recorded an album and with that I converted 3 Christmas Carols in mp3 format. L. was 12 while M. was 11 years old with another girl and 2 boys from the Manila Children Choir. The choir conductor chose only 5 children for this recording but with recent technology, it sounds like they are a big group of kids.

1. Hark The Herald Angel Sing (Click here to download– 2.9 MB) – Charles Wesley/Felix Mendelssohn , adapted by Jack North , Arranged by Jack North/John Wilson
2. Christmas in Our Hearts (Click here to download– 3.0 MB)- Jose Mari Chan , arranged by Carmina R. Cuya
3. Pasko Na Sinta Ko (Click here to download– 4.8 MB)- Aurelio Estanislao/Francis Dandan , Arranged by Bernadette de Leon

Pasko na Sinta ko is actually a love song but the melody is very poignant . It reminds me that my love would not have been with me this Christmas , if we didn’t collaborate to make it work. Some of you may find that you can relate to the lyrics.

Pasko na sinta ko

Hanap-hanap kita

Bakit ka nagtampo

Iniwan ako

It’s Christmas, my love

I’m longing for you

What did I do

that made you leave me

Kung mawawala ka

Sa piling ko sinta

Paano ang Pasko

Inulila mo

If you’ll be gone

From my side, my love

What will happen to my Christmas

That you made so lonely

Refrain:

Sayang sinta ang sinumpaan

At pagtitinginang tunay

Nais mo bang kalimutang ganap

Ang ating suyuan at galak

Our promises have gone to waste, my love

And our love that was so true

Do you wish to forget everything

All our affection and joys

Kung mawawala ka

Sa piling ko sinta

Paano ang Paskong

Alay ko sa iyo.

If you’ll be gone

From my side, my love

What will happen to my Christmas

That I offer to you.

manila children choirThere is something about Christmas carols sung by children. Their innocence and eager spirit shows the true meaning of the Christmas season. It has been said that music can open a window to the soul. To anyone with a loss, music may either drive a knife into an already festering wound, or it my begin to soothe and bring comfort to a shattered and broken spirit.

Christmas Carols sang by my children keeps me happy even if my boy is no longer with us.

May you be blessed with peace and love during the Christmas season.

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. Agnes Pharo

Our Halloween Trick or Treat Tradition 25 years ago

by ⋅ 11 Comments

halloween traditionWhat happened to Halloween day? Why is Trick or Treat celebrated way earlier than October 31? Where is the fun in moving it to an earlier date? Those were some of the questions my kids asked me in 2006. My three children celebrated Trick or Treat only on October 31 whether it was a weekday or weekend. Then that all changed when our village changed the date because it was just convenient for them to facilitate the kids in costume. My kids often say that it is like moving Christmas day to December 20. Something like that.

Wikipedia states that

Halloween (or Hallowe’en) is an international holiday celebrated on October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o’-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies.

I do not understand. Maybe I am trapped in the American tradition that my husband brought to our family since we first celebrated it 25 years ago. Maybe the Philippines has its own version on how to celebrate Halloween.

I remember the day my dear husband reminded me to dress up the little girls into witches for Halloween. “Halloween?” I thought Halloween was only done in the Western countries. ” Yes you have to dress them up as witches”. As a little boy in the late sixties, he pranced around the neighborhood begging for candies and yelling “Trick or Treat” . According to him, the Halloween “Trick or Treat” originated in the Philippines during the sixties when the Americans living in the village started the tradition. In the early nineties, Halloween was not yet commercialized. No little kids doing trick or treat inside the malls.

The Trick or Treat was limited to Ayala Land villages, where most American expatriates lived. There were a few masks and simple decors in National Book store but that was it. No costumes. I had to be creative. I designed a witch costume with yellow piping and a dressmaker executed it. A balikbayan sister from San Francisco brought in the hat, the candy corn candies, the fangs gum for props.

halloween traditionWe drove all the way to visit the kid’s grandparents in Alabang just for the spooky Halloween experience. As usual, the beaming stage mother dressed up her adorable girls as cute little witches. The Trick or Treat party at the club was fantastic. The kids were dressed in typical Halloween costumes like vampires, ghosts, witches, and devils or even pumpkins.The eerie decors added to the thrilling experience.

halloweenThe Trick or Treat adventure in this swanky Alabang village is something else. The houses compete with each other on the scariest theme. Most of these houses had tricks. In one house, the kids were terrified of the candle-lit pathway that led to a vampire rocking on the chair. Complete with spine-tingling music as you walk towards the vampire, it even freaked me out. One of my daughters scurried away as soon as she saw the ghoulish figure. For many years, the girls spent their Halloween with their grandparents in this Alabang village until Luijoe arrived in our lives.

LuijoeLuijoe’s first Halloween in 1994 was spent at his aunt’s village. She started the Trick or Treat experience in her own village. 1994 saw the year when malls and the like started to sell costumes and more Halloween decors. My husband just adored his little boy. It’s no wonder that Halloween is such a painful experience for my husband. The past years, he used to hibernate in our bedroom avoiding the little kids knocking at our doors. But that is just how he was then. I love giving candies to these kids as I imagine my precious Luijoe hovering nearby. I am sure Luijoe is around me all the time.

5.jpgMy little boy posed his cutest smile ever. “sigh” I miss my boy. As I gathered the photos for this entry, I could not help turning misty-eyed pouring over these precious memories . “Was he really that cute?” “How I wish I can just rewind the past and hug him all over again!” Pictures and memories are what is left of him. Of course, his love rings true in my heart. But yes, I digress. And the tears well up again as I write this.

The girls who were then in their pre-teen years continued to be witches until their early teens. That’s when they designed their own costumes or innovated their wardrobe.

6.jpg7.jpgLuijoe’s last two Halloween was dressed up as a little devil. How he liked playing the naughty little imp to the hilt. This little devil is now my angel . His impish grins just makes me smile. Kids are just so adorable aren’t they? I miss my kids as little kids and being the stage mother fussing around them. Now that they have grown up, I’m just there when they need me.

halloween
8.jpg12.jpgAfter Luijoe died in 2000, the girls continued the Trick or Treat tradition with their younger cousins. Costumes are now based on themes other than traditional horror, such as dressing up as a character from a TV show or movie. Ahhh…. I miss the traditional Halloween costumes. L in this photo is behind the fence because she was traumatized by an 11 year old bully who grabbed her whole bag of candies. Demand for candies is just so much that after an hour, we always ran out of treats.

Our kitties are not exempt from trick or treat.

kitties.jpg
The girls have outgrown the costumes but the ghost story telling or watching horror movies never dies. I don’t have to don the witch’ hat and spook them out. I don’t need to line the garage with eerie candle-lit lighting. No need for the masked monster by the rocking chair. They can entertain themselves now.

So that’s how my family celebrate Halloween. What’s your tradition?

“Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad”

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

“All fathers are invisible in daytime; daytime is ruled by mothers and fathers come out at night. Darkness brings home fathers, with their real, unspeakable power. There is more to fathers than meets the eye.” – Margaret Atwood


““A father is always making his baby into a little woman.
And when she is a woman he turns her back again.”
Enid Bagnold
Happy father’s day to all the fathers and single mothers out there.

Happy father’s day to the dad of my three children.

Unlike most couples I know, I have never called my husband , “dad”. I told him from the start of our marriage that I would always refer to him by his first name, “Butch” because I think it is more romantic than “dad” or “daddy”.



““My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”
Clarence B. Kelland
“Dad” is reserved for my dad. Even if my daddy old boy is not around, he will always be a daddy in my heart . Daddy taught me to live, love, laugh, to be strong , and committed to God , family and community. Dad gave me the greatest gift : he believed in me. Though a late bloomer in community service, I always think of my dad who showed me how to be passionate to a cause. That is why I always sign with my maiden name in honor of his memory.

luidad
This photo was taken in 1999, the last Father’s day
that my husband celebrated with his son.
For fathers who have lost a child, there is a sense of remembering how much fun it was and how terribly sad it is not to have their child

to hold and tell them of their love. My husband wrote once on this feelings of loss and quoted Gordon Livingston “And so, as I contemplate the western horizon of my life, I think of my son with exquisite sadness and profound gratitude. He evoked in me a capacity for love I did not know I had. Those feelings did not die with him, nor will they, I pray, die with me.”

““Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad”.

Sinulog memories

by ⋅ 3 Comments

sinulog
Taken on the stage of Sinulog 1985 celebration
The cries of Pit Senyor rings in the air right now as Cebu’s Sinulog celebration heats up. Sinulog holds treasured memories of the two loves of my life: My dad and my husband.

Thirty one years ago , I first attended it with my then fiance. A lot of milestones happened in Sinulog 1985.

– my first Sinulog
– I got engaged the day before
– Dad was the chair of Sinulog 1985
– the 1985 model was a great organizational model

The Pamanhikan

How in love we both were ( and still are). Sinulog 1985 holds precious memories as that was the day Butch asked my dad for my hand in marriage. On that day, the two loves of my life finally got to talk for the first time. In all the 7 years that Butch and I were steadies, Dad never spoke a single word to Butch except “hi and bye”. That day, I finally asked Dad why he treated Butch that way . Dad’s two lame explanations were that he didn’t want Butch to be too familiar and secondly , he didn’t know how to talk to the boyfriend of his daughter. Oh well, that was cleared up that fateful Sinulog eve.


Sinulog 2012

Dad, the organizer

I missed the Sinulog so many times. During the Sinulog 2012, I brought my two girls to join the festivities and finally participate and take photos. It was not that crowded then in 1985 yet it was still festive.

Sinulog 1985 - dadWith the help of my sister, Lorna who assisted dad during the Sinulog, I was able to piece something about dad’s last Sinulog as the overall organizer.

Dad was the chair for the Board of Judges committee, to judge the higantes and floats, starting 1981. I helped him find the judges and investigate their reputation and credibility. It is possible that the 1985 festival was the largest since it started but I do recall that even 1981 had already elbow-to-elbow crowds. I cannot remember the numbers. All I truly remember is that the 1985 model was a great organizational model.

The Sinulog Festival that started in 1980 was a modestly-managed event. David ““Boy” Odilao had started this project as a competition among school-based dance troupes. 16-year old Shelley Ann Roper from Connecticut, USA, the Rotary Exchange student hosted by the Rotary Club of Cebu-West (and who was living with us in our Lahug home) who was a member of the Southwestern Dance Troupe, was acknowledged as the first American to dance in this first official celebration that had commercial appeal. Shelley certainly stood out — blonde hair, fair skin, dancing barefooted in Sinulog attire.


Sinulog 2012

The glitters, the dances, the fancy trimmings and the pageantry are only expressions of how important Santo Nino is to the Cebuanos but for me Sinulog is a day filled with treasures of love .

My dear Sto. Nino . These days in January we are again celebrating your feast. How fitting to celebrate your feast in this first month of the year, since as a child, you invite us to grow and mature with you through the year!

Pit Senyor

What to stuff into those Christmas stockings

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

Christmas stockings is a cherished tradition? What do you put inside the stockings?

stockings

There’s an old Merry Melodies cartoon my sisters and I loved watching when we were kids. It’s a story of seven kids and how they can’t for Christmas morning. Santa Claus drops by on Christmas Eve, filling their living room with toys as they sleep. One scene that stands out a lot for me is when Santa stuffs one of the children’s old socks with a toy, then adds one more toy, and another, until the whole ratty sock is practically bursting with playful trinkets. Santa would then give off his hearty laugh and off he’d go to the next stocking. I love that scene because of all the possibilities that can fill a little old sock. If this happened in real life, one can imagine the joy a little boy would have as he digs out toy after toy on Christmas morning. Who knew how much magic digging through an old sock could bring?

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why hanging stockings up for Christmas is a cherished tradition. A stocking can’t fill much, so what surprises can one find the next morning? Will the toy train one requested for fit into that sock (and if so, how did Santa manage do that!)? Will the stocking be filled with wondrous delights, from sugary treats to savory indulgences? How generous can you be with such limited stocking space? That is the stocking stuffer’s challenge. It’s easy to stuff stockings. What’s difficult is not knowing when to stop!

A little boy would surely go nuts over a stocking filled with his favourite toys. Stuff his stocking with action figures from his favourite movie or cartoon. The more complete the set, the better! If the little boy is into cars, stuff his stocking with as many Matchbox cars as you can. He’ll surely spend Christmas morning racing around the living room with a smile plastered on his face. For boys who are into creepy crawlies, rubber insects and animals are sold in toy stores. Fill his stocking to the brim with these creatures.

A little girl on the other hand may delight in a stocking full of accessories. Bracelets and headbands and ribbons, oh my! If she’s into Barbie dolls, why not fill her stocking with new clothes for Barbie? Don’t forget the matching shoes!

But who says only kids can enjoy super stuffed stockings? Grown-ups can also find fun in these packaged surprises. For the foodie grown-up, fill her stocking with savory snacks she can take with her everywhere she goes! Biscuits, crackers and cookies would surely delight. For coffee lovers, a stash of their favourite coffee mixes, beans and maybe even a mug (if it fits!) can be jammed into a stocking. Have bookworms in the family? Jam as many books as you can into a stocking. Bookmarks and book lights can also join in the fun. The travel lover may enjoy a stocking stuffed with trail mix, anti-bacterial gel, even a small, folding umbrella for those sudden downpours. Nature-loving friends will enjoy stockings filled with packs of seeds, perhaps a gardening tool set with matching gloves too. Interests as themes for stocking stuffers is a fun and easy way to begin the thought process for when you want to fill someone’s stocking but don’t know where to start!

What if you’re a little scrimped for cash? Can you still fill up someone else’s stocking? Definitely. A coupon-filled stocking is one way to go! Create coupons for a free massage’ or a free drive to the mall’ and pile up these coupons into your loved one’s stocking. This stocking of favors will surely come in handy for them and they’d be much appreciated. How about a stocking full of promises? Grab a bunch of calling-card sized board paper and write a promise on each one to. It could be something silly like ““I promise to wear the polka-dot tie you gave me whenever you ask me to” or something grand ““I promise to take you to Manila Ocean Park.” Don’t forget to follow through on those promises!

Socks and stockings may look like they can’t hold much, and that’s precisely why stuffing them is so much fun. How far can a loved one’s stocking stretch with your generosity? Why not go and find out!

 

This is by Toni Tiu, a repost from Philippine Online Chronicles .

Memories of Misa de gallo (or Simbang gabi)

by ⋅ Leave a Comment


Simbang Gabi is an “Aguinaldo Mass that literally means “Gift Mass.”

misa de gallo
Three thirty in the morning
Wake up, he said.
Let’s go.

Bells tolling
In the distance
Calling us.

Walking briskly
in the dark
With my chattering sisters
And brothers
Shivering
I pulled my coat close to me
Against the chilly air.

Four a.m.
Struggling to keep my eyes open
In a church
smelling of candles
packed with people
Praying fervently
in Cebuano

This is torture, I thought
Let this be over soon.
Sacrifice, my father whispered
Preparing for Jesus’s birth.

The choir’s voices
swelled into song
Kasadya ning Taknaa.

At the parish hall door
Handing brown bags
of pan de sal
my mother had baked
to a jostling crowd
of the poor outside
who smelled of sweat and dust

Smiles from my neighbors inside
Sipping steaming cups of tsokolate
Munching sweet bread
Amid red and green parols
swaying by the windows.

I sighed.
Soon
It will be Christmas.

 

The poem was written by my younger sister five years ago. Now living in the US, she came up with the poem for her community paper after we reminisced on our childhood Christmas memories. Those were the days when we dreaded waking up at 3:30 AM yet we feared our dad’s anger if we didn’t obey him.

My sister asked “what was the word we used for simbang gabi?”

I know it as misa de gallo.

Oh yes, my sister recalled now. Misa de Gallo (Rooster’s Mass) is a more fitting word than simbang gabi (Night Mass) because we can literally hear roosters during the mass. I couldn’t understand why dad had to wake us up at such an ungodly hour. Going to mass this early for nine consecutive days is meant to show the churchgoer’s devotion to his faith and heighten anticipation for the Nativity of the Lord. In traditional Filipino belief, however, completing the novena is also supposed to mean that God would grant the devotee’s special wish or favor. I don’t think my dad was after granting of his wishes. He was a successful business man and a loving husband and father to seven children. He just wanted to follow Filipino tradition.

Despite the discomfort of waking up early, my sisters and I look back to these memories with nostalgia. Misa de Gallo was a test of our willpower to get up early and stay awake during mass. Of course, we were all wide awake for the free breakfast that our community prepared during the nine days. Many years later, I struggled to wake up at 4:00 AM and I succeeded only once since my teen years. That’s only because my two girls sang at the church choir.

misa de galloMaybe it was the Misa de Gallo memories with my family or my dad, but today I finally woke up to the sound of Christmas carols pealing in the air. No church bells ringing , just the soothing Christmas carols which actually woke me up. Unfortunately, Butch begged off and the two girls refused to wake up. So I walked across the street just ten minutes before the mass started and what do I see?! A jumpacked church. I should have brought a stool. For once, I liked the sermon of our parish priest as it speaks of the divinity of Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the main reason for the celebration of the season!

Just like tradition, I dropped by to buy suman and puto bumbong to feed the sleepyheads at home.

 

Here I am unable to sleep so I am blogging about the Misa de Gallo in my parish church.

Do you follow this tradition?

Singing Christmas carols, a family tradition

by ⋅ Leave a Comment

The Christmas carols sung out loud, brings happiness and bliss all the year round! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The last Christmas with my mom in 1975 was spent singing Christmas songs in our dining room . How we crooned to my mom’s delight as all the 7 siblings from 19 to 10 years old gathered around my brother who played the melody in the Yamaha organ. At times, mom accompanied the songs in the piano and even sang with her beautiful soprano voice . Each sibling sang a carol or played a Christmas piece in the piano. I can’t remember now if this was an unwritten family rule that Santa Claus won’t bring a present or we just loved to sing carols as a family. A tinge of sadness overcomes me now as I long to go back to that last Christmas when my family of origin was still complete. Those wonderful memories remain alive in my heart. I thought of reviving the singing tradition when I soon had children. Unfortunately, mom’s singing voice is not in my genes.. the only musical talent I probably got is having an ear for music. I can tell when someone is off-key, pitchy or just tone dead. I play the piano, guitar and the organ . That’s about it. In the seventies, the Yamaha organ was the most groovy way to play music aside from the guitar.

I soon discovered that my two daughters could carry a tune. I bought sing-along Christmas songs tape where they could follow the music along with the lyrics. Pretty soon, my daughters were singing all the carols. Allow me certain bragging rights here but they sang beautifully at ages 4 and 3 respectively. They weren’t shy to sing in front of me back then so I recorded their singing voices in a tape which was then converted to digital format years later.

Along with the fragrant aroma of baking gingerbread cookies, you will hear Christmas carols streaming in every nook and corner which includes the recorded songs of my two girls. There’s nothing like setting the mood for my baking chores or working on articles at my laptop. The festive carols allow me to glamorize the house a little bit for Christmas without noticing the great tasks ahead. The melody and the simple lyrics will never cease to mesmerize and attune me to the holiday mood. I get so sentimental hearing my two girls singing as toddlers. There is something about Christmas carols sang by children. Their innocence and enthusiastic spirit reminds me of angel voices.

These days, I fill my home with Christmas carols by playing the piano.

I like to imagine Christmas carols the way it should be sung. Christmas carols depict the story of Christ’s birth. Angels sang various songs to tell the good news of Jesus’ birth when they encountered shepherds. The practice followed from then on and slowly became a tradition to sing carols on Christmas. These traditional Christmas carols embody the essence of truly Christmas-themed songs and espouse the sacredness and joyousness of the season of the Nativity.

Singing or playing Christmas carols is another family tradition that I continue on. It is my hope that my children will also pass it as well. Whether to lift my family’s spirit during the Christmas season, or for wishing each other well , the Christmas Carols like ““We Wish you a Merry Christmas” or Jingle Bells” will never fail to spark the true meaning of Christmas, the hope of the world.

Remembering Luijoe on All Saints Day

by ⋅ 16 Comments

Remembering our departed loved ones on All Saints’ day and everyday of our lives.

all-saints-day
Did you know…the universal symbol of remembering is a candle?

Did you know…letting go of our loved one, but honoring their memory with a symbol is a ritual that brings healing? Sometimes words are not there to express what we want to say, but a symbol that brings meaning to us can help in the grief process.

candle-lighting2

We can’t know why some things happen…

But we can know that love

and beautiful memories

outlast the pain of grief.

And we can know that there’s a place

inside the heart where love lives always…..

And where nothing beautiful can ever

be forgotten.

Remembering Luijoe, and my immediate family members like my mom, my dad, brothers Ruben and Oscar today and everyday of my life.

luijoe