A JOYful Day with Family

Dear Hive friends, in this blog, I will be sharing a memorable day with one of my most generous aunts when she finally came back after almost four years of being unable to come home.

_{Tita Joy (in green printed terno) with my cousins from Dalaguete and from Alcoy 💜 (Took this photo using my phone)}

Her name is Judith but we all call her Tita Joy. And she surely lives up to her nickname. She is my father's sister and she has been living in Tokyo, Japan for a very long time.

I grew up knowing that Tita Joy has long been a big dreamer. What I know about her is though she never really had everything growing up, she was hardworking and she knows the kind of life she wanted for herself.

Based on what I knew from my parents (when I asked about Tita a long time ago), she was a hardworking single mom when she got married here in the Philippines to Tito Yoshi (God bless his soul), a Japanese friend of Tita's employer. He brought her to Japan and married her there as well.They had two children named Tsutomo (with the same age as me), and Narumi (who has the same age as my younger sister). All three children also have their own families now. Tita also runs her own izakaya (where she personally cooks the food they serve), and a pet shop in Tokyo.

_{We have this photo of my Tita's family in one of our albums here at home.💜}

Even as I grew up, Tita's presence in the family was evident. She used to send us a package full of clothes, toys, chocolates, and etc. every year. When her family is home for vacation here in Cebu, we would always get invited to their staycation. She always wanted to be present in big family milestones as much as she can. She travelled all the way from the "land of the rising sun" to become one of our principal wedding sponsors. She even sponsored the wedding cake.💜

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I remember as a child, my siblings and I got our earliest hotel staycation experiences whenever my Tita invites us. The last time we had a staycation with her here in Cebu was in 2017. We stayed at Movenpick Resort . I had my first jet ski ride there and it was also the first time I ate lamb roast at their Ibiza restaurant.

_{My first jet ski ride 🌊, both scary and exciting!😅(Thanks mama for taking this photo) 💜}

But one of the most exhilarating and unexpected experiences I had with her was when she invited my mother and I for our first international travel. She paid for everyone's airfare and hotel when we went to Bangkok, Thailand in 2015. It was very memorable for me. Never in my life have I ever imagined that I could travel outside the country.

_{Sawadee ka!🙏 We're going to the elephants!🐘}

_{Getting ready for our floating market trip!💦}

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Tita Joy's last visit to the Philippines was way back 2019. She was able to visit us briefly before my son's Christening. After that, there was the pandemic. The lockdown and then, the restrictions made her unable to travel back to the Philippines.☹️

_{A few months after giving birth, I was able to see my Tita and Kuya Boogie (her eldest son, in red orange) again.😊}

We were excited when she told us that she will finally be coming home. She sent me a few messages telling me about her homecoming. She wanted to gather her closest family members and relatives as well as a few close friends. We didn't know the final date of her arrival at first. And then she came back to the country last July.

She first stayed for some time in Manila where her first born lives. Then days later, she came home to Dalaguete with two of her grandchildren. We were invited for an early and special dinner at Daddy Loloy's home. Daddy Loloy is the eldest among my father's siblings.

We arrived just in time for the caterer to finish preparing. But before we could even have dinner, my son was already itching to go swimming. I had planned to make sure he can't go swimming (as he will surely not want to come out of the pool!) so I did not bring his swimming clothes. Pleaded by my son and my cousins, I finally let him have some pool time. My cousin let him borrow the swimming trunks that their son had outgrown. So there I was, watching the kiddo enjoy the pool.

_{Thanks to my cousins, Kuya Dibbon and Ate Anne!💜}

When our cousins and relatives from Alcoy arrived, we started with our dinner. There were lots of food and lots of conversations during that time.

_{Tita Joy (in green printed terno) has been "table hopping" to make sure she can talk to everyone.😊}

Afterwards, we headed to the deck bar that my cousin, Kuya Dibbon, had recently designed. He had this structure constructed beside their pool.

_{Chillin' at the bar 🥂🍸}

_{Tequila sunrise 🍹}

We surely had a great time with cocktails that my other cousins and cousins-in-law had made. We had a lot of conversations with relatives as well, trying to catch up, as we rarely get to see each other in person.

Later, we went down to go to the restroom but we discovered something really fun! It was an arcade machine (or gaming machine)! My sister, my son, and I stayed there for quite some time playing our all-time favorites Dragon Ball Z and Super Mario.

_{Goku versus Cell! Can anyone relate? 😂}

Then, the live band started playing and everyone merrily sang along. The young ones stayed by the pool while having drinks and talking about their lives.

_{Cousins from Alcoy, Dalaguete, and Manila 💜}

Alas, we had to go home as the kids were already exhausted. Tita Joy gave us some gifts before we bid goodbye. 😘

_{Yay! Thank you Tita!💜}

I am more than thankful for being part of this special day for the family. Even if my father had already passed away in 2008, I felt we still belonged as we were always invited and included. I am very grateful to have such an aunt who never forgets us. There were times in the past when she would just send a Facebook message to us asking how we've been. She is also very active in writing her comments on whatever we upload or post. These may be simple things but they matter to me a lot. I appreciate every gesture she has showed us ever since. This is probably how she shows us that we are valued as her nieces and nephews. She was always generous and always trying to reach out whenever she has the time.

_{Tita Joy and I 😊}

I pray that she stays the kind and bubbly Tita that she is. Aside from looking younger that she actually is, she values family and hard work very much. I also look up to her at how she has aged gracefully (she doesn't look like a senior citizen!). I pray that she stays healthy and keep on enjoying her life. 🙏

My Tita has taught me a lot about generosity, kindness, and working hard to achieve your goals in life. She taught me, indirectly, that family matters the most, no matter what. Whenever I see her go live on Facebook and whenever she posts pictures, I also feel glad that she is enjoying what she worked hard for. She deserves that blessed life she has right now.😊💜

How about you my dear Hive friends? Who has unconditionally shared their time or treasure to you? I hope that person stays healthy and blessed as well.

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Thank you very much for reading! I hope you were somehow inspired and (hopefully) had a great time reading! 😊 💜

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Note: Some old photos came from our old photo album at home. I had the permission from my mother to use these. The travel, staycation, and reunion photos were all taken using my phone (both old and new). Please understand that my old phone's camera doesn't have an excellent quality 😅. I had also asked some family members to take photos using either my phone or their phones. Thank you for understanding.😅
Btw, for the collages, I used Canva. 😊