What was your most meaningful Christmas?
There’s that magic during the Christmas season when everyone tends to be kinder and more generous towards each other. Maybe God really meant to make Christmas to be before yearend because it’s the perfect time to say goodbye and welcome a new year. And as we think of the real essence of this joyful season, let us always try to make every year the most meaningful Christmas.
CHOT REYES, head coach, Talk ‘n’ Text PBA team: My most meaningful Christmas was my first Christmas as a father, which was in 1982, the year my oldest Joshua was born. Professionally, the most memorable was Dec. 25, 2002 when my former team, the Coke Tigers, created history by becoming the first team in the PBA to win a championship in its rookie year.
We won the title on the very first Christmas Day game played in Philippine history.
BARBARA ABOITIZ, graphic designer, housewife: For Miguel and me, Christmas is an occasion to tighten family bonds. We both come from cultures that take pride in family unity. We alternately celebrate Christmas between Miguel’s family in Cebu on the beach with all the water sports, and my family in Austria skiing in the amazing Austrian alps, having winter fun. Our children enjoy family gatherings, as well as experiencing the different cultures. Miguel and I enjoy the yearly gatherings and are looking forward to spending some quiet time to appreciate and reflect on the current year before the new year comes around and the everyday routine of life and works starts again at full speed.
FRANCES AMPER SALES, editor in chief, OK magazine: My most memorable Christmas is the whole Amper family gathering at my grandparents’ tiny apartment, then all of us singing the Visayan classic Usahay, which is our family anthem. We kids then get crisp P20 bills for the effort but I just really liked the singing. Christmas always means family and singing to me!
RAFE TOTENGCO, international designer: It was a few years after I moved to New York. My cousins whom I grew up with in our compound in Bacolod were visiting from LA. We attended midnight Mass in SoHo and when the Mass was over, it started snowing. My cousins had never experienced snow! All of a sudden we were jumping up and down in the streets with our tongues sticking out to taste the snow. We were kids all over again. That was so much fun. It still makes me smile when I remember that moment.
MARTIN NIEVERA, TV host, singer: My most memorable Christmas would have to be my first Christmas as a father. Robin, my firstborn, was born on Nov. 30, 1986, so you can almost see the constant sparkle in my eyes that whole month of December 1986. It was the most magical Christmas I had ever experienced and to think it was only the three of us — Robin, his mother and me in a small house with very simple decorations. Shopping while pushing this miracle on four wheels in every mall was a sight to behold. “My son, my son! This is my son,” I’d yell. Although he was so tiny back then, he made me feel gigantic. My pride and my passion, my son Robin made my first Christmas as a father even more memorable than his first Christmas as a baby. Christmas is and will always be my favorite time of the year, but thanks to my firstborn I have truly become a loyal and devoted “Santa’s Helper.”
Even to this day the spirit of Christmas comes very early in my house and I get into the whole shop-until-you-drop mode, finding the right gift for that loved one. Robin has taught me many lessons as a father, but the most magical of them all was when he taught me to be Santa. Now I have carried this tradition and this magical feeling over to my second born Ram (born Jan. 26, 1990) and lately to my third, Santino (born Oct. 23, 2006). If it wasn’t for Robin there would be no Santa; there would be no magic and no spirit of love and giving for me. It’s funny how the birth of a child can change a person and erase all doubts and fear. Sounds familiar…I know a child like that. Do you?
LISA MACUJA ELIZALDE, artistic director, Ballet Manila: My most meaningful Christmas is this year because there is so much more meaning in being able to prepare for, shape and anticipate a holiday than reminiscing on holidays of the past. The full meaning of Christmas is the giving of love — whether it’s sharing time with family from all over the world in grand reunions, or spending time with friends, giving a thoughtful present to let someone know you are thinking of him, or saying a prayer and celebrating Christ’s birth at Mass.
Mandaluyong Mayor BENHUR ABALOS: For me, Christmas will always be synonymous with my late daughter Ciara. When she passed away, a song appeared in my cell phone through a callback tone. The telecom server informed me that it was caused by a computer glitch as they no longer carried Christmas songs during summer. It was a time of utter grief, tremendous longing, hopelessness and doubt. The song that appeared, a few minutes after she left us and disappeared right after her burial, is a special song that formed a bond between me and the twins when they were young up to the time they were in their teens. The song is entitled Christmas in our Hearts. The lyrics that appeared repeatedly are as follows, “…Let us never forget the love we have for Jesus and He shall guide us. Let this spirit of Christmas be always in our hearts.” This incident gave me hope, strength and renewed my faith. For me, Christmas loving, caring, sharing and giving are the true essence of life.
IYA VILLANIA, singer, actress, Myx VJ, Bench model: My most memorable Christmas was when I was about five or six. There was this doll that I really, really wanted to get, and my mom told me to write Santa Claus. And so I asked, begged and pleaded — more than any five-year-old could ever do. Come Christmas morning, lo and behold, I found that very same doll all wrapped up nicely under our Christmas tree! I’ve been a Santa believer ever since!
Vice President NOLI DE CASTRO: Christmas in my hometown, Pola, Oriental Mindoro, when I was still a young boy. I remember when my Inay and Tatay were still alive. They made sure that our Christmas, despite our financial difficulty, would still be a merry one. What is priceless and most memorable was seeing Inay preparing a very special treat for us, which is served only every noche buena, consisting of hamon, queso de bola, fruit salad and making hot cacao drink for everyone, while Tatay would be helping me and my kuya Doping in putting up our parol. All these simple Christmas memories are kept in my heart. Now, whenever we celebrate Christmas, reunions are held and we reminisce the good old days in Pola, and we all agree that our noche buena in Pola will always bring warm thoughts and feelings and put a smile in our hearts.
Representative NIKKI PRIETO TEODORO, 1st District, Tarlac: Christmas in the old English way. It was not snowing that year in London like it usually did. But that didn’t stop me from appreciating the beauty of this city that I have always loved. It was cold, but not too cold, just enough for a cashmere coat and off I went to Harrods for an afternoon tea with my husband Gilbert and my son Jaime. London struck me with its bright and festive Christmas decorations fashioned in the old English way. There were bright Christmas lights and large, fresh Christmas trees in the malls, in the coffee shops, in the homes and in almost every corner of the city. All the people were engrossed in the Christmas rush, most especially at Harrods and Fortnum & Mason, buying gifts and setting up last-minute decorations. Women in beautiful sweaters and men in long tweed jackets flooded the busy streets of London. The police, on huge stallions, looked so elegant and commanding as they marked the intersections. We bought the best Christmas pudding at Fortnum & Mason; almost every afternoon we would have high tea at The Dorchester Hotel. A few days before Christmas, we visited my aunt who has a lovely cottage near Windsor Castle. It was so relaxing because my aunt’s place was so cozy and her garden was so green, the smell of pine was all around us. The next day, my husband and I brought Jaime to Hamley’s, one of the biggest toy and gadget stores in Europe. The highlight of the trip was when we watched the play A Christmas Carol at the Royal Albert Hall.
For Christmas Eve, Gilbert prepared a perfectly cooked goose stuffed with red berries and chestnuts. After dinner, we went out for an evening walk at Hyde Park, adorned with thousands of small Christmas lights. I was seeing this beauty with my loved ones, and that was what made this Christmas priceless!
