I’m a grown up… Yup! I just realized that yesterday when I found happiness and contentment in just seeing my family for Christmas. As a kid (and believe me I was a kid for a loooooooooong time) Christmas for me was receiving gifts and looking forward to noche buena with loads of hotdogs and ham.
Yesterday I came home to where I grew up, it was after noche buena and way after all the gifts were opened. I felt really good just by being in the company of people who I knew loved me and my family unconditionally. To see my Mom and Dad smile because we came home, to be with my siblings, nephews (I have a lot) and niece (isa lang sya but she’s a handful! my other nieces are in Saipan) was something that was more gratifying than getting new clothes and trinkets.
Real happiness came in a different form… from seeing my kids share rowdy activities with 
their cousins to hearing my husband utter a short prayer of thank you Lord after eating meager instant korean noodles on Christmas night, of feeling contentment emanating from him even if I did not have the energy to cook anything else but instant noodles, of seeing smiles from all around especially from someone I do not know.
So I have moved on from seeing Christmas as a day of gifts and food to a day for being thankful for all the you have instead of praying for all you that want.
