new traditions, new beginnings.

i'm quite reflective and introspective most of the time, but especially during the holidays. it is a natural time to take a look back on what i've experienced during the year, as well thing about where i'm going.

christmas at the romero household truly has never been the same since my mother passed away. traditionally our family would take turns at having christmas eve dinner or having everyone over for christmas day. but now since my dad doesn't cook (at all) and my brother and i don't have our s#%t together, we generally rely on the generosity of our aunts (our second moms) for a turkey and all the fixins'. this year was even more different because most of our family went away to the philippines for christmas. i guess this really made me miss mom this year.

however change is good and i've realized that christmas too is not about holding on to new traditions, but on creating new ones. one thing that we still do is to open up at least one gift before we go to bed, usually after mass -- i'm glad we still do that. one is that my dad now sings a solo during christmas mass. it's funny, but my dad used to be super shy, and would take a lot for him to sing in front of his friends let alone the public. but he has a fantastic voice, seriously, great tone and fantastic phrasing, and my mother used to get so upset because he didn't use his talent more. one of the last things my mother and my father did together was to sing in the church choir, so it's great that he has embraced his singing and is sharing it with everyone, not just us around the house.

also, i'm proud to say that my brother and jeanette took a big step forward on christmas eve as well -- they are finally engaged! they've set a date, october 1st, so 2005 is certainly going to be a year of new beginnings, and new traditions for the our family.

i think next year will be a good year to try and bring back christmas dinner to the romero household.