On coffee, chocolate, and cakes

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I never liked drinking coffee. But somehow, I find myself sitting in one coffee shop or the other every Sunday. That’s because I’m spending some quality time with my cousins and my siblings.

Being with what remains of my extended family (on the father side) allows me to relax. More and more are migrating to greener pastures. Many of them are scattered in the United States; they themselves don’t get to see each other every week. I feel lucky to be able to see my cousins because someday, inevitably, we’ll all go our separate ways. We may be feeling the first signs of strain; we no longer see our elderly cousins who got married and have families of their own, except when we go all the way to Batangas to visit. And my younger brother will be leaving for California in a few more weeks (we might not see each other for several years) to be with our parents.

Add that to the fact that we who are staying in the Philippines are living in different time zones… my sister and a cousin are both in the call center industry, which means night shifts. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen my sister for a few days now!

That’s why I find dinner and coffee on Sunday nights a really refreshing experience. I get to see my cousins and my siblings.

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