Reunion 007: A Time to Bond!

The clan reunion that kept my pulse over-speeding all of December came through! It exceeded all our expectations, trashed all our worries, and proved all our apprehensions wrong.

We knew we had a winner in the venue. Tucked away in some forgotten place, “The Lord’s Garden” is so close to Laguna Bay.

It was difficult to get there, though. One had to navigate narrow roads clogged with tricycles and sidewalk vendors. But once you’re there, you get a whiff of bygone days.

Clean air caressed us and all around were wide open spaces with lots of trees, flowers, grass, birds, frogs, and—a giant chess set.

But that was about the only ace we got. Anything could go wrong with over 170 reunionites (or clanistas, as we have nicknamed ourselves; more than half live overseas)—aged 7 months to 89.

Nothing did. We realized that nothing ever goes wrong when family gets together to strengthen relationships and renew old ties. Oversights are forgiven.

Things went on as planned, plus more. James Bond numbers, parlor games, sports, talent and quiz shows, board games, kiddie activities, raffle, Bible-lympics, and other fun activities one can think of kept us laughing and bonding for 3 days and two nights. It was organized chaos, so to speak. One could participate in any event of his choice.

But two activities were non-negotiable: the opening worship service and the “friendship circle” where we were locked together in a hand chain while we prayed to await the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. Everybody had to be there.

As a clan, we believe that everything is up to God. We could meet every year—running 63 years now—as a family only because of His grace. We therefore must give thanks together before we do anything else. In this worship service, which began Reunion 007: A time to Bond!, we remembered the clanistas who have gone ahead—all 42 of them. As they lit our way, may we—those who are left behind—also learn to light the way of those whom we will likewise leave behind.

May the Lord find us always faithful.

What gives me the right to chair this reunion?

My grandparents on my mother’s side had nine children. All nine branches of the big clan is assigned a reunion. As the eldest in my mother’s branch, I get to head the reunion committee every nine years. It is an awesome responsibility which I could never go alone.

This year, we were short-handed—13 of our sub-clan members are abroad. They all shared in the work in terms of creative ideas and donations, but the execution was left to the 11 of us.

The older among us (me and my husband, my sister, my brother and his wife) watched the "shaken and stirred" younger ones, our children, do the tasks we couldn't do ala Bond, complete with his espionage music in the background. Boy, was that dizzying!

Four days after the closing ceremonies, I am still exhausted from the overdrive. Well, I have nine years to recover. By then, I'd be nine years older and the clanistas in the group photo below would spill over the frame even more. But by His grace, I will be all fired up—again.