Christmas in the Office

Every Christmas, I go home to our province in the heart of the Philippines.
I remember, it was this night when all of my cousins would prepare to
attend the midnight mass.
The church was always overflowing with people.
After the mass, we usually stroll in the plaza and get
to see my prep classmates holding hands with my highschool classmates.
When tired, we sit in the benches and talk about anything interesting--tsimis!
Then we eat bingka or mani or batchoy or siopao.

It was really fun.

My Christmas is always merry when I am there.
When we get home, we eat all together in the terrace.
We exchange food with our neighboors and gifts as well.
Relatives abroad will call and talk to each one of us.
Everyone is smilling.
Everybody is happy.
But this Christmas, I am not in our terrace,
celebrating Christmas with my family.
I am here in the office, in front of my PC.
Celebrating with my keyboard, my mouse
and my headset.
Its been 2 years since the last time I experienced a true Merry Christmas.

But still I am thankful for another Christmas I experience.