Ohana

Article 004.

Elated would not even cover it. The satisfaction is so capitulating, my body clock doesn’t even know how to react to the cluster of emotions— happiness, anxiety, weariness, fatigue, the time difference and the what-the-hell-happened in the last 24. It is the high that’s inertly happy and uncontrollable. Gosh, it’s been several years since I’ve seen my folks, my sister. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll notice anything different. My old man Ely looks a little frail, a lot skinnier for sure but his spirit has not faltered. His comic relief is priceless. Mommy Dory is as loving and as innocently tactless as she has always been. Love that about her. And the celebrant herself Tizza (more context from the previous blog), well, she is winning. Winning with her career, with her family, basically in life. Deservingly so I should say. Last time I saw my nephew, Noah, he was 5. Now he is the tallest amongst us 7, brother-in-law Norman and niece Thea included. Wishing my two grown men were with me during this trip. Would’ve closed the circle. Would’ve been epic. Family to a tee. 

The two kids stayed in the adjacent room after being in Disneyland the entire humid day. Norman and Tizza joined me and the parents in ours to cap off the Friday night with some authentic family bonding. Long-awaited. Lamb chops, peanuts and fish sausage (not as bad as it sounds, trust) are the ones to accompany the yours-truly recommended Hite beer. What an eclectic array. Nobody really cared, it was the agenda behind it that was important. I was so ready to mingle with the group when my participation took a slight delay. A determined old friend would not say no to a video call. No matter how much I told her that her timing is so bad, she was relentless. We talked for what I thought would be a quick call which turned into about 40mins long, just catching up. We hung up with smiles as I finally join my Ohana. I posted a video in social media of the moment when I came into the restaurant to surprise my sister for her birthday and get that million-dollar reaction. In that clip you would see for a split second how Dad looked away and Mom giving me that puzzling look. Eventually they confessed that they didn’t recognize me— say whaaaat? Their own son?? Mom thought I was Tizza’s co-worker who was so overly nice to fly all the way out just to greet her. She also questioned why I was hugging Tizza way more intensely in front of her husband with no regard of how awkward it looked. We were busting. Mom was serious. The final blow was when she said, “Hindi si Mike yan, and gwapo eh!” (That can’t be Mike. He is good looking!) There was a big guffaw, a first of plenty. Did Mom just praise me and insult me at the same time? Praise me by telling that the gentleman she didn’t recognize, who happens to be me, is appealing. Insult me because her standard of the actual me is that low. The ultimate irony. I love her honesty. It’s where I got mine. No wonder my folks had no reaction when I hugged them. It was only when I sat down beside them and started talking directly is when the light bulb finally lit up. Laughter all around. We reminisced about my and Tizza’s upbringing (always a favorite topic), laughing all about it now but it wasn’t entirely funny to us back then. The biggest laughs really is when Tizza and I team up to make fun of mostly Dad with occasional jabs at Mom, who again would have an honest opinion about everything to the delight of all of sarcastic us. Belly aches for sure. Miss Video Call friend would’ve had a blast being a part of this, without a doubt. 

Now I’m on a plane flying back out to sunny California and my already disoriented spirit is starting to go in shambles. I was assigned in the Emergency Exit row, far-end across the aisle but sadly, window-less. Why there isn’t one when there’s enough space to have a see-through is beyond me. An old Chinese guy was occasionally standing in front of me, back-stretching and a little too close if you ask me. He needed the lone hand rail for support, which happens to be just an arms-length away from where I'm sitting. I guess because the area behind the Emergency Exit is the "unofficial" designated stretch area, I suppose complaining about getting my personal space violated is out the question. The lady behind me keeps poking on her mini-screen aggressively, making me really dizzy while I was trying to catch a quickie (talking about sleep fool) before the FAs start serving the first meal. I bet she’s playing Plants & Zombies and probably losing. The young gentleman on my left was sneezing his soul out. Flu-like symptoms. I should be ready in the next few days for mine the way its going. I was on involuntary lavatory watch as I strategically see each and every person coming in and out, which seriously annoys me. My patience was getting pushed to the brink. I put my Marshall’s earphones on, looked specifically for Hell N Back by Bakar [https://youtu.be/BdrNvQ4YCng?si=ZVAySH4bbBSLCs44] to calm me down. It worked. Now I'm not mad, just sad.

Ohana means Family!