Christmas Past, Christmas Present

Siyempre ang Christmas past ko nung nanduon pa ako sa Pilipinas, matagal na ito. Ang gusto kong iniisip na past ay nuong maliliit pa kami ng mga kapatid ko. Nuong simple lang ang buhay: may mabuksan ka lang na maliit na regalo kung Pasko, maligaya ka na. Kahit bente singko sentimos ang bigay ng Ditse namin, tuwang tuwa na kami. Marami ng mabibili ang bente singko nuon. Diyes lang ang isang bote ng coca cola. Dalawang pan de limon, singko. Isang choconut, singko din.

At nuon, ang mga nagkaka-caroling, naka-aaliw talaga. Mga batang kapitbahay lang. Ang mga dala dala - mga pinitpit na tansan ng sarsaparilla na nakabilot sa alambre. Ayun, may patunog na sila habang bumabanat ng "jingle bells."

Ang Nanay ko nuon, tuwing Disyembre 23 nakahanda na ang mga bilot na bilot na diyes sentimos. Lahat ng mga batang nag-kaka-caroling, diyes ang bigay. Kahit pabalik balik na, bigay pa rin kami.

Pero ang mga malalaki - mga dalaga't binata at 'yung mga galing sa simbahan, siyempre malaki ang bigay. At may pakain pa. Sila 'yung kung mag-caroling e halos hatinggabi na. At naka-dyip pa kung dumating. Ang bigay sa kanila ni Nanay ay naka-sobre.

At ang simbang gabi namin nuong Christmas past ay talagang unforgettable. E, sa bayan namin sa Mandaluyong ay dalawa ang simbahan. Sa kalye pa lang papunta, para ng prusisyon sa dami ng mga magsisimba. Pagdating mo sa luob ng simbahan, wala kang mauupuan. Jampacked!

Iyan naman e mga first four days siguro. Siyempre, excited ang lahat. Tapos paunti nang paunti ang mga nagsisimba.

Nuon, exciting magsimba ng madaling araw, pero mas exciting ang labasan. Kasi bibili kami ng puto bumbong at bibingka.

Sa luob naman ng simbahan, kalahati ng misa, tulog kami ng kapatid ko. Pitong taon lang ako nuon, kaya forgivable. At saka papasok pa kami sa eskwela pagdating ng alas siyete.

Ang Christmas present ko naman ay 'yung dito sa North America. Ngayon pag nanunuod ako ng telebisyon, nadirinig ko ang sangkatutak na fund raising o mga nanghihingi ng regalo para sa mga batang mahihirap. May mga "secret santa" movement o may mga food drive. Okay ang lahat ng iyan, lalo na ang food drive, kasi lalo na ngayon, ang daming mga pamilyang below poverty line. Pero nadirinig ko rin kasi ang mga "blasts" mula sa TV - mula sa mga electronics stores, sa mga shopping channels - ng kung ano anong mga regalo.

Naiisip ko lang ang kaibhan ng Pasko nuon at Pasko ngayon. Nuon, isang baril-barilan lang ang mairegalo sa akin, ang saya saya ko na. Ngayon, sa dami ng mga laruan at gadgets sa mall, ang mga bata nag-e-expect talaga ng mga earth-shaking na regalo. Kesyo iPod, kesyo GameBoy, Blue Ray, etc, etc.

Kailangan siguro maibalik natin ang kasimplehan ng Pasko. Ngayong 2008, dahil sa global recession na nangyayari at sa giyera sa Iraq, parang gloomy ang dating ng Kapaskuhan. Bakit kaya?

Kung ang hinihintay natin ay ang Christmas Present - kung saan ang measure ng kaligayahan ay kung gaano kamahal ang regalong matatanggap o maibibigay - maaring mabigo tayo.

Subali't kung ang ating hihintayin ay ang Christmas Past - kung saan ang kaligayahan natin ay ang pagsusuot ng balabal at pagsugod sa gitna ng lamig o kaya ay snow, at pagdalo sa Misa ng Pasko - tayo ay tunay na matutuwa. Dahil ito ang tunay na Pasko. Simple. Kasing-simple ng sabsaban na pinaglagyan sa batang si Hesus!

SANA AY MAGKAROON KAYO NG NAPAKALIGAYANG PASKO.

Gifts for Christmas and ...New Year.

What to give? There is that question again. Every year, about the same time today, I think of possible answers to this one question.

In our family, I remember that gift giving usually was done on New Year's Day, not Christmas Day.

How did this happen? Well, when I was growing up, we spent our Christmases with my grandparents in our province up North in Nueva Ecija. So it meant that, we kids, received gifts, but we never gave any. It was more receiving.

After Christmas, we would head back to Manila, and on New Year's Day, we would be at the house of our maternal grand aunt (this was way back when I was in primary school), and together with my siblings and countless second cousins, we would again be receiving gifts, this time, from my mother's relatives - her sisters and numerous cousins. So, when it was time to go home after a long day of eating, talking and playing, we would be carrying bags full of gifts, and pockets lined with "coins and bills."

When my Grand Aunt died, our New Year's Day celebration was held regularly at the house of my mother's sister, my aunt. This time, the celebration became limited to our close family. This tradition went on up until I finished high school.

My aunt's house was located in Sta. Ana, an old district of Manila. It was a lovely property, of a two-story wood and stone house amidst countless trees - kaimito, niyog, guavas, langka, duhat, atis and bananas. But the best part was that her house was beside the Pasig River.

In those years, late 50's and early 60's, the Pasig River was a body of water where kids could still swim during the hot days of summer. In short, it was still clear and clean and when one was riding a banca, one could look underneath, and actually see some seaweeds and waterlilies floating by.

In my university years, our New Year's Day celebration was transferred to our house in Mandaluyong.

Somewhere along those years, someone introduced the idea of "kris kringle." So what happened was that days before New Year, each member of the family would draw a name from a pool of folded papers, and the chosen name became "your kringle." On New Year's Day, after the traditional hearty lunch, we would gather around in the 'sala' or living room and my mother would start the roll. She would call out her "kringle," and give her/him a gift. Then this person would call out her/his kringle, and so forth and so on.

As the years passed and my sisters and cousins got married and started to have kids, the list of "kringles" or "monitos" became longer and more interesting. And the price of the gifts became more expensive as the years went by.

About three years ago, when I went home to the Philippines to celebrate the Holidays there, we had our traditional New Year's Day celebration in the hotel room where I was staying. So each family brought a dish, and we were able to sing karaoke without any complaints from anyone. And because I had already given my gifts in advance (before Christmas), I resorted to raffling some items as prizes for the parlor games we all enjoyed. I know other balikbayan Filipinos who raffled really expensive items for their relatives, all in the spirit of the holiday gift-giving.

So what to give this Holiday Season? I started by giving a bottle of wine to my doctor today.

Next week, I will meet a friend for dinner. Hmmm....

SLEEP AND ITS PERILS

Who would not want a long, restful night sleep. Even the birds and the bees welcome a good sleep.

But lately, the medical field has recognized that there are some perils when some humans go to sleep. I am one such person; diagnosed with a sleep disorder called sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea has been a sleep disorder for so many decades, but it has only been recently recognized and labeled a disease. In fact, the first medically recognized sleep apnea was only reported in 1965. There are three distinct forms of sleep apnea: central, obstructive, and complex (i.e., a combination of central and obstructive).

In my case, I have a moderate case of obstructive sleep apnea.

The management of obstructive sleep apnea was revolutionized with the introduction of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), first described in 1981 by Colin Sullivan and associates in Sydney, Australia.

The CPAP paraphernalia which had been prescribed to me resembles an oxygen air mask. The first night I wore it, I was not able to sleep. I went back to the supplier and ordered another mask, and with it, a soft pliable plastic which covers the nose, I was able to experience an undisturbed satisfying sleep.

I've been into the CPAP for two years now. Everywhere I go, I bring my cpap with me; short or long trips.

One of the hassles of bringing the CPAP on air travels, is at the airport screening. My doctor has given a special note stating the need for the machine, but in most US airports, once the scanner catches the shape of the "oxygen-mask" looking CPAP, the bag would immediately be opened and sometimes, even brought to a special security personnel, who would ask me suspiciously what it is. Once they see it and my doc's note, they just zip the bag and hand it back to me.

Inspite of all the hassles that come with bringing my CPAP on my travels, I would never, ever leave it behind. It is a life-saving device!

Prior to the emergence of sleep disorder clinics, the phenomenom of "bangungot" or SUDS (sudden death syndrome) had been misunderstood by us, Pinoys. Bangungot was consigned to the realm of the "supernatural, horror or the occult."

I learned that sleep apnea occurs mostly in males, over forty and overweight. It also occurs widely among Asians. My Japanese-sleep doctor told me that Asians are candidates for this because Asians tend to have smaller and narrower throats.

Young and females could also suffer from sleep apnea, but not as widely as males. My own nephew died from "bangungot" when he was barely twenty years old.

And I also remember the case of one young Filipino soap actor, who died in his sleep while vacationing in a plush resort in the South. This, according to the Filipino technician who conducted my sleep test, was a classic example of sleep apnea.