Christmas 2020

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This year's Christmas parties certainly is very different. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting California particularly hard, forcing the state to issue stay-at-home orders one more time (I actually didn't realise that we were told that the stay-at-home orders in the spring were lifted). But thanks to the wonders of technology, we were still able to see each other and have fun. The organisers of the Zoom calls used Facebook's group messaging function to announce when we'd be meeting virtually. I don't have a Facebook account anymore so I only learned of the schedules from Ate Maddie (for my dad's side of the family) and from Trisha (for my mom's side of the family). It's good that the two Zoom calls did not fall on the same day and at the same time. The best part of the Zoom calls: we got to see those based in the Philippines too!

The Cuevas family Zoom call was held on December 18th. Relatives from the USA, the Philippines, and Canada were online when we popped in. Obviously, we were not yet Christmas-ready when we joined because we were not wearing anything Christmas-themed. But Anna and Mommy decided on the spot to wear something festive... Mommy wore a Christmas-themed blanked over her shoulders while Anna got a random towel and said that she's portraying Mama Mary. Oh, everybody else (especially the children) was in costume because there were prizes at stake for best in Christmas costume. The criteria for judging were vague (is this a most beautiful costume competition or were people vying for the best ugly sweater award?).

 

Photo screen-grabbed from Ate Maddie's Instagram account

The Odejar family Zoom call, on the other hand, was held on December 24th. If COVID-19 didn't deter our family reunion, the California-based relatives would have all been gathered in one of the houses wearing plaid clothes. But because of COVID-19, we were all at our respective homes, visiting each other virtually. And because this is the family's first Zoom call and the first time that we've seen each other in months, it was rowdy and noisy and wacky! I couldn't decipher what's going on because people were talking over each other, engaged in different exciting conversations.

Some cousins went online briefly to greet but had to leave shortly after.

In both cases, the calls were relatively late in the day; my son wasn't able to join in all the fun because he's sleeping already (his sleep times start between 6:30pm and 7:30pm these days). I can say the same thing for Gabriel. Biboy and Barbara probably skipped the reunions because they were tucking Gabriel in while everyone else was on the calls. Val was also absent because he was busy at work and got totally confused with the timezone difference.

Despite the distance, I felt that my family's bond is strong. Next year, I am hoping that Christmas is better for all of us and we could meet again, in person.

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