Happy day after Valentine's day (or Singles Awareness Day for some of you)! Regardless of how you spent it, I hope you are had a terrific day and the rest of your week is going great! 

Happy Wednesday everyone! Whoa, we're more than half way through the first month of January already! How are you guys doing? 

Now that Thanksgiving is over, and we're all probably recovering from our tryptophan over doses, I'm sure you're looking at the calendar and thinking to yourself, "What?! It's December already?!! Where did the year go?!". If you aren't, I surely am, and am shaking my head as to how fast yet another year has gone by. 

Happy post Labor Day weekend everyone. Summer is supposed to be "officially" over, but with the heat we're experiencing, I don't think so! Then again, that's L.A. for you. Hope you were able to celebrate it somewhere cool and fun. As for me, it seems that my yearly Labor Day weekend is spent testing out my cardio-will and fortitude at the annual Disneyland Half Marathon in Anaheim. Yup, while most people were asleep (most notably Helen, in our room at the Disneyland Hotel), I was up alongside upwards of 15,000 people ready to test themselves against 13.1 miles of LOVELY Anaheim roads at 6:00am sharp, Sunday morning. (Why do I do it, I still have yet to figure it out!). Thank goodness temps were reasonable and that we started early! Great times indeed!

Growing up alongside my cousins in both San Diego and up north in the Bay area, summers were always a great time. Those who lived up north would come down to southern cal to come "play" at the beaches and theme parks and basically just enjoy summer as it was meant to be - lots of fun. We would hit up all the major theme parks, from Sea World, through Disneyland and Magic Mountain to name a few, with myself or some of the other "legal driving aged" cousins at the wheel of a small armada of mini-vans. It was a great time indeed.

     During those summers when my cousins Chris, Nikki and Andrew would come down, they'd be accompanied by their mom, Auntie Eris, who was always super nice, warm and loving. I would always be the one to drive their mini-van (cause it was the newest at the time!), plus the most full. We'd venture off to different places, have a great time, eat a fabulous dinner, and then get back to San Diego to re-energize ourselves for the next day. Those days we would stay with Tita Becky (who passed away last month). Auntie Eris would be there amongst the "elders", and would always support everything and anything we'd want to do. I remember her like I do Tita Becky, inviting, warm, generous and "cool". So much so that at the end of their trips, she would always give me money for driving! Too generous! (I would always politely decline, considering she would always pay for everything.) I always knew that it would be a great time when they would all come down and spend time.
 
     I was truly saddened when I got news that Auntie Eris passed away yesterday after a relatively short battle with cancer. She leaves behind my three cousins, who as children, also saw their father, my uncle, pass away as well. She raised them to be the great people they are today, and I have to say how awesome a job I think she did with them. I hadn't seen Auntie Eris in a while, and was hoping to during Tita Becky's funeral, but unfortunately, time wasn't on our side.
 
     I'll remember all the laughter we all shared, those fun summers. Those huge family parties that we had when almost everyone was still around. Yet, I know, that as we get older, we are now getting to that "age" where we will start to lose the aunts and uncles who raised us. Those family members who gave us all those wonderful memories, and helped shape us into the adults we are today. It's never easy losing a loved one, whether near or far, old or young, but sadly, it is a part of life, one that I'll never really get used to.
 
     Even though I didn't get to see Auntie Eris in recent years, I will most definitely miss her greatly. Her smile, her warmth, her loving energy. I will always be grateful for everything she did, and for raising such terrific cousins in her short time with us. Godspeed Tita Eris. Thank you for everything. And do say hello to Tita Becky for us once you see her and tell her we miss her too :)


 

This past weekend, my family and I said "goodbye" to my aunt ("Tita" in Tagalog) after her long and courageous battle with cancer. As you may have read in my last entry, she died peacefully, and surrounded by those who loved her, finally free from the pains that her disease had inflicted on her.

The church was packed, and many a friend and relative were on hand to pay their last respects to her. At the memorial service it turns out she touched so many people's lives with all of the "small things" that she did - everything from driving people around, helping them with chores, keeping up with old friends, etc. More things than most people ever do.  She lived her life that way, always helping out people.

Amongst many fond memories of her being shared, mine was of one while I was growing up, the one that involves a little blue Chargers football team duffel bag, a small, nondescript bag, with the team's lightning bolt and helmet on one side. I remember this cause as a child, I thought the bag looked cool and wanted one. Since she lived in San Diego, it wasn't all that often that we visited her and the rest of the family, but when we did, her house was usually the main hub of  all activities in and around S.D. When I told her that I liked it, she said, "okay, next time you come down here, I'll get you one."  A little time went by since that visit, but low and behold, sure enough, the next time I was down in San Diego, there was this little blue Chargers duffel bag waiting for me, courtesy of Tita Becky. Heck, I had even forgot that I wanted one, but she remembered and made sure I got it. It was the small things like this that made her the loving person that she was. She was always thoughtful, and it was something that carried her throughout her life.

To me, she'll always be Tita Becky. The aunt who was the youngest of her brothers and sisters, always had your back, was in-tune with how us "youngin's" were growing up, and just plain fun to be around. She was outspoken, had a great loud laugh, and quick to joke around, and always showed you that she loved you in small, precious ways, even without saying it.

They say that funerals are for the living, and I truly believe it. For there we were, a couple hundred of us, mourning the loss of a beautiful soul on a bright, sunny Saturday morning. Afterwards, we all went to a buffet restaurant where the entire family reminisced, laughed, and joked around (as usual). That was then followed by all of us going over to her house, where all the "young" cousins (myself included) continued with the jovial banter, the talks. Yet this time, it was us looking after the next generation of Palma kids, our nieces and nephews, just as she did while we were growing up. It was nice to be around my family again, as sadly, the last few times we've met have been over funerals, but once together, it becomes a party. The party that never really stops per say, but just gets put on hold till next time. Plus, it was equally nice to be at Tita Becky's house, where at any moment I kinda expected her to come around the corner hearing her laugh at our terrible jokes and tell us all that it was time to eat. I'll definitely miss her energy and presence, her joy and laughter, and her love for life and her family.

I knew her my entire life, and it was an honor being her nephew through all my years. I'll see you again someday soon Tita. Till then, rest in peace :)

Now that I'm back, and slowly getting over my jet lag, I've been pondering over our three weeks abroad in some of the most beautiful and fascinating cities in the world. I thought to myself "what makes a trip special?". Was it the sights? The food? The first that came to mind were the memories that were created - including the food, and the sights, and other quirky things that happened like the fact that it rained a few times and we had to buy umbrellas from street hawkers, getting stranded without any taxi/bus or subway system to get back to our hotel, walking up 424 steps, etc. Stuff I'll look back on and smile at now that they're history. But the next big reason that stuck out were the people we met. To me, what makes a trip stand out are the people you get to talk to, meet, interact with, and get to know the city and culture through.