Insightful, Hopeful

Yesterday, December 30, 2005, we attended our reunion at Cavite with the clan on my father side. Most of my relatives live in Cavite and we're the only ones living in Manila so we don't get to see them often. We have been having reunions after Christmas since I was small. But even though our grandparents, an aunt and uncle have passed away, we still continued this tradition.
The hosts were my 2 cousins who are both extroverts. My other cousin told the love story of my grandparents as well as each of the siblings of my father, and the love story of my parents. It was wonderful to hear these stories, as most of us heard it for the first time. Some were funny, others romantic. It made me realize, that yes, my parents, aunts and uncles did go through teenage to young adult stage and had "kilig" moments too. It's just that when I was younger, I saw them as people who were just disciplinarians, old people, gift givers. Now I realize, everyone goes through the same stage of life, only the scenarios are different.
We also had some games, for juniors (0-10 years old), young adults (single people), young couples and elders. Some of the games were really funny, like the tomato catching, newspaper dance, and tomato cheek-to-cheek dance. There was also a lot of singing, as we rented a videoke. Our clan really enjoys music and most are good singers too.
I also had a chance to chat with my cousins. I guess this was the happiest reunion for me. Maybe because before, I didn't get to mingle much with my relatives since I didn't feel that close to them, seeing them only once or twice a year. It's also now that some cousins are showing their wacky side. Before, most of us were shy. Now, perhaps we are more confident with ourselves and more matured as individuals.
On our way home, our family realized that we won in all categories in the games. My brother was also listening to Magic 89.9, and I suddenly had the idea to request a song, and at the same time greet my family on the radio. I asked my bro for a song request, and texted it with the greeting. I was quite nervous (weird me) that my message won't be read on air.
I am not really a radio person, more of a TV one. The last time I remembered hearing a message of mine was when I was in 2nd year high school and I greeted my friends back then. I also had a love advice read on air back when pager was the "in" thing and text messages were unheard of. It was funny coz I guess I was too young then and didn't know much about love (not that I know about it very much, it's a very complicated thing).
Anyway, my greeting was read on air, and my brother's request was played so I was very happy.
We were also planning on watching the pyro olympics on Macapagal Avenue, but the tollgate was very much traffic-stricken so we had to content ourselves to a very far view at Coastal Road. We still enjoyed the fireworks though it appeared so small from where we were watching. We learned later that the one we watched was the firework display of the Philippines, the finale for the Pyro Olympics though it was not part of the competition.
It was a fun day for me, a fitting ending for 2005.