Amb. Arizala's article evokes memories
By Henry Huerto
I am presently preparing for my upcoming tests in a course where I am currently enrolled in when my attention was caught by Amb. Arizala's latest piece on Christmas. His article has evoked memories about my own Christmas experiences as a boy in Infanta - recollections so strong and fond that I had to break my self-imposed rule of not letting anything aside from my normal home or office chores to get in the way of my current preparations.
I have always looked back to that period in my young life with such cherished thoughts to say that they have been one of,if not the happiest moments in my life. And this is despite the fact that unlike most of the other children then, I was never sure to have new clothes or pair of shoes to wear on the Big Day because our family was really hard-up to afford them.
On this and to veer from my topic a little bit, I used to wonder that despite their very meager income, our parents had always managed to buy us new wears for the Yuletide season. For one thing, maybe this was because like any other parents it was their joy to see us happy during Christmas. Another reason was that at the very least, they did not cherish the prospect of seeing us left out while other kids were basking in their new attires. I only realized later how many months Nanay would have to bleed through just to be able to pay the 'hulugang damit' which I and my other sibling had worn!
I am never embarassed to admit that I grew up without having seen, least of all tried, a real hamon or experienced a sumptuous meal of Noche Buena after attending the Misa de Gallo. Sta Claus was fiction to me because I did not remember receiving even a single gift coming from him. Or maybe it was because we did not have a chimney for him to sneak his gifts through in the first place.
Yet despite the things we lacked or did not have then, I would not say now that those days were not as happy or memorable as those of the other kids who grew up with me. On the contrary, I maintain that they may be the best Christmases that I ever had. For the simple reasons that as a child, I saw this time as one when better off parents would let their own children share toys with less fortunate kids like us. It was also a time when even the normally condescending neighbor would transform into a most gracious host to poor kids in the neighborhood. But best of all, the thrills of my early Christmases came when I and my youngest sister would hop from house to house and kneel before the owners in order to earn that much desired 'cinco or diez' na papasko.
To a child especially, the joy that Christmas brings is that which comes from within. Certain ciccumstances may have changed in my life that have placed my two young children a lot better off than where I had been as a child. All their lives, they have known Santa Claus and always looked forward to receiving their gifts from him. Despite these, I have always nursed this secret wish that my children will also experience the joys of my childhood Christmases in Infanta - which until now to me have been the truest and purest.