The greatest gift

We all know that Jesus is the greatest gift we have all received this Christmas season. So this is about the second greatest gift we - the entire Ligunas family (my dad's & his brothers' families, my grandmother & a distant grandaunt) - received this Christmas.

We were already at our room at Discovery Suites last Dec. 24 when Tito Vonn, a cousin of my dad's from the States , whom they invited to join us arrived. Everybody was happy to see him since he hasn't come home for 6 years. But that's not the gift.

Around that time, my tito/ninong, who went out for a while, came back with a letter. It was a letter from Discovery Suites saying that Santa Claus was going to go to our room at 8 in the evening. It said that the Santa was deaf and mute so it was part of a fund-raising thing. My grandmother and younger cousins got excited.
At 8 in the evening, Santa arrived. He was wearing a mop as his beard and hair. We were all called out from our rooms to the sala so that we could take a picture with him. But instead of the kids getting excited, some of them got scared and didn't want to approach santa. :p

Since Santa was deaf and mute, he brought flash cards with him so that he could communicate with us. But first, he gave an envelope saying "Love Offering (Min: P50.00)" Ang kapal ni Santa. lol. Pero in fairness, ang baba ng minimum.

Then, these are what transpired (The contents of Santa's flash card are contained in quotation marks(" "). We read all of those aloud for fun and since some of my cousins don't know how to read yet):

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"Merry Christmas"
(conversation with 2 of my cousins)
Juno: baka si Tito Lloyd yan //my uncle who was out because he had a gig
Me: hindi! bingi yan e.
*gets the letter then shows it to them*
(end of conversation)
"Are you Happy..."
Us: Yes!!!
Tita Catchy: Kilala ko yang sulat na yan ha.
"With Your Face?" //Bingi nga siya db?!
(conversation with my mom)
Me: Mommy, bingi yan e.
Mommy: Hindi. si tito law na yata yan. // Tito law is my dad's brother who has been in the States for the past 3 years.
Me: Sure ka?
(end of conversation)
"Do you know WHO I AM? Hint: SANTA CL_ _ _"
Us: Santa Claus!
My Dad: Santa Clara. //corny. haha.
"My name is SANTA CLOWN."
*people laugh*
"I am a MOP HEAD Specialist. (by PROFESSION)"
*laughter again*
"I am the current commander of the North Pole MOP SQUAD"
"I can grant one very special wish for Christmas..."
"What do you wish for?"
Tita Catchy: I wish for my husband. //Tita Catchy is tito law's wife.
"But first do you want me to dance?"
Tito Vonn: Michael Jackson?
*Santa nods.* //I'm like: I thought that guy was deaf. Inuuto naman kami nito e. Baka nga tito ko talaga yan. *Santa dances*
"Ok, now here is my gift for you... Are you ready?"
"(1)Get one envelope each. (2)Do not open yet. (3)We'll open all at the same time. Ready???"
*envelopes are distributed* //I told my mom: Pano niya naman nalaman kung gano tayo kadami dito?
"Get Set... => GO!!!"
Luis (my brother): Pera ba to?

Guess what was inside the envelopes...

It was a piece of paper saying: "I'M HOME!!!"

We all started shouting. Santa removed his mop and hat. It was Tito Law. My cousins and tita rushed at him and hugged him. It was a really long hug. 6 out of his 7 children were crying. One of them was only 2 when tito Law left. He was more of shocked. Pano ba naan kasi puting puti yung mukha ni Santa? Then my dad, my lola and of course all of us na rin hugged him. My dad, my lola, my mom, my siblings and I - we were all crying as well.

We were all overwhelmed with joy. The feeling was incomparable. Seeing how happy tito Law was to be back with his family and seeing how glad my cousins and aunt were when they saw tito Law, their tears and all - these were all great. Seeing the family smile and become genuinely happy was just heartwarming. I couldn't even imagine how hard it was for all of them not to see their dad for such a long time and for tito law to miss 3 years of his children's lives. Almost every moment of our stay in Discovery, my uncle was hugging at least one of his children or his wife. I'm just so happy for them.

I have not received a gift greater than this this year. Actually, I haven't received a gift greater than this my entire life.

Turns out my uncle has been home since Friday and was staying at another room in Discovery. Ninong Larry and tito Vonn were the only ones who knew that he was back. They helped plan the surprise. Tita Catchy hasn't been able to sleep well for 3 nights. She felt like Tito Law was coming back. She was crying one night and her children saw her. She had to tell them what she felt. My mom, on the other hand, has told me quite a number of times this month, "Sana isurprise ni tito Law yung family niya this Christmas. Sana umuwi na siya." Galing ng women's intuition no?! When Tita Catchy said "kilala ko yang sulat na yan," my dad started staring at santa's eyes to see if it was tito law. Tito Vonn reminded tito law by signaling him, to avoid eye contact. Tito Vonn told us afterwards that he noticed daddy looking at tito law intently and that he had told tito law beforehand to avoid eye contact because his family knows him.

Tito Law... Welcome back. We are all so happy to see you again. You made all of us, your family, extra happy this year. We missed you. We will always be here praying for you. We know that wherever you are in the world and whatever you decide to do, God will be right beside you, guiding you, and never forsaking you and your family kasi sobrang malakas ka sa kanya. We love you. God bless!

Truly, the family is God's gift to us. They are the people who will never turn their backs away from us. Some might seem like they don't care but they truly do. Because the love that your family gives you doesn't only stem from commitment (something that often gets broken), it comes from your connection (in blood, in genes, in umbilical chord) which can't be taken away and in that bond that God has made in the very beginning among all of you. Let us all treasure our families. They're the people who will never leave your side.