“As little children we would dream of Christmas morn, and all our gifts and toys…we knew we’d find but we never realized…a baby born one blessed night…gave us the greatest gift of our lives…”
Undeniably, when we were kids, we never cared for
anything on Christmas day but the gifts we received that we believed came from
Santa Claus who would sneak into our house through the chimney (ironically,
houses here in the Philippines do not have chimneys, and has nobody ever
wondered where he would try to get inside the house?). As we grew up, we had
absorbed the real meaning of Christmas, why dawn masses were held before the 25th,
and for whom we would really celebrate the occasion.
But, of course, it feels good to relive childhood
memories—those times that our concept of the yuletide season was shallow, when
a small simple gift would draw curves on our lips and when upon seeing
Christmas tree covered with colorful and dancing lights, the joy in our hearts
would ignite.
I remember spending Christmas day at my
grandmother’s brother’s beautiful house in Marikina City where I played games with
other children whom I didn’t even know (were we related to one another?). Toys
were prepared and wrapped as prizes for the winners. Of course I got some—a
ball, a set of power rangers, a toy gun and other toys I can no longer recall.
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| That's me, the baby in red shoes, when I was about 1 year old. |
