THE FIRST DAY of the Rest of my LIfe

THE FIRST DAY
Of the Rest of my Life

The day was the Feast of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo. To me it started at 1:00 a.m. when I was greeted by a Congressman, the father-in-law of my daughter who happened to be celebrating his birthday too. After that I no longer slept deeply as I was anticipating excitedly the appearance of Sunrise of my new day.

At 5:00 a.m. I was gifted with a tight embrace by my wife who seemed to be more excited to kill the old chicken given to me by a previous housemate in ‘exchange for my life’. I thought it was unfair to the chicken that did nothing but laid eggs. She also wanted to cook a noodle recipe so that I may live longer life. I chided her if she didn’t realize that I already have lived long enough.

We heard mass at the chapel of the Little Souls located at Tagaytay.
It was a solemn experience with only few in attendance and everything was done in almost heavenly manner. While the mass was going on, my youngest daughter, with her husband and only daughter arrived to join us.

A sister –in-law of mine who came from Bohol with her husband was scheduled to leave for America the following day was invited by my wife to meet and join us for lunch at Josephine’s. Her other sister with the husband also were invited to be with us. The fair of couples came pretty early so they proceeded to the next town where their two brothers were based and invited them too. One came with a lady friend.

There, at Josephine’s, an 87 year old Grandmother was also celebrating her birthday at a very long table. I noticed that some of them were glancing at me interestingly. I decided to stand up, went closer to them and greeted the celebrating Grandmother.

As it turned out one of the granddaughters of the celebrant was my ‘godchild’ during her baptism. It has been many, many years ago. The tiny pretty girl who used to see me on Christmas Day was now married to a successful businessman. They have three children and were based in Dubai. What followed was a lively nostalgic revival of the by-gone days.

Sooner my sisters and bothers-in-law said good-bye to go back home.. The whole experienced turned out to be an unusual but differently enjoyable birthday celebration not at all planned. More interestingly, the waiter was somehow stunned when I handed to him 9 senior citizen’s card during payment.

My especial guest turned out to be my charming grand daughter who was the only available projection of the latest generation of my clan. The whole event made my day after I attended the anticipated mass that afternoon.