The Road to 40 Day 71/365: “Let’s get this party started!”

It was Vino’s big day, as he turned eight years old.

It had been a rainy night, and I woke up with my sister asking if I wanted to park my car outside the village just to be safe. Our village is known for getting flooded, so even if our house never gets flooded, getting in or out can be difficult. 

I told her that I trusted that we’d have God’s grace as Vino’s gift, and we’ll have no issues heading out, so we decided to keep things as is. 

She told me that Ate Jen already arrived, so I got up to catch up with her.

Before Vino was born, I was determined to dedicate my life taking care of him so we didn’t need to hire a helper. Four days after being born, Vino was in the hospital because of an infection, and Che suffered eclampsia. I was lost, and asked her if we could get a helper.

Ate Jen was recommended by a friend of mine, and we waited until we got hold of her before deciding to look for other candidates. We had one face-to-face interview with her and decided we weren’t going to look for anyone else.

On that day, she carried Vino to sleep while we were interviewing her. 

She became a constant presence in Vino’s life until we had to move to Vietnam. There was no valid visa for us to hire her while we were there. However, she was also planning to move to the United States to be with her husband, whom she met and married while she was with us. 

Of course, it was a difficult conversation to be had with Vino, and while he eventually accepted that reality, there are times he misses his ate very much. She remains in Vino’s nightly prayers. 

She currently works in a hotel chain in her province, but asked to take a leave from it so that she can attend Vino’s party. I asked her to wake Vino up at 8am. 

Vino wasn’t getting up even if ate was trying her best to wake him up. When he finally tried to see who was bothering him, he let out a soft shout of excitement as he recognized Ate Jen. 

There were hugs and almost tears, and the dude became a baby again as he asked ate to carry him. 

We had breakfast and prepared to head over to the party. It was still raining a bit, and we had to power through a bit of flood. 

At the parking lot, Chiro, Ten, Tia, and Sari were in the car behind us, and Che, Kathreen, Elle, and Kaloi approached us. The sisters unknowingly all picked a black top and jeans ensemble, and we later learned Angge had the same thing. 

At the venue, Carlos, Adriana, and Bong were the first visitors to arrive. Them boys always going to be my reliable teammates even if we don’t work together anymore. 

Guests started flowing in, with family and friends coming in as the day went on. It’s always fun to reunite with friends, and I’m happy to see so many people celebrate with Vino. He may have been a bit overwhelmed by the people, and he didn’t always know all of the kids, even if a lot of them have been invited to his birthdays before.

There were so many people to catch up with. It was difficult to spend time with everyone, but I’m happy that they all got their play on with their kids. It makes my heart full knowing that even if we are away, this many people still choose to spend time with us on special occasions like this. 

A lot more people wanted to come, but responsibilities, health, and the weather prevented them from joining in on the fun. 

Vino looked like he had a blast. He was dancing the things he does in front of mirrors and basking in the cheers of the people. The Marcaida sisters gave “competitive adults” a new face when they joined the sack race and the short program. 

At the end of the program, Vino gave a short message to everyone. I had no idea what he wanted to say. I was half expecting he would just make funny sounds and shout like he always does when he has the microphone. 

However, he had a sincere message of thanks to everyone. And then he just went back to his kolokoy self and shouted “let’s get this party started!” 

Che and I weren’t able to play much as we had to move around, but we were so happy that it turned out to be a great party. Everyone had fun and got tired. 

We brought our things to the hotel again, where we’ll be staying for the rest of our PH trip. My mom and my sister came by to drop off the gifts and some of our things that I loaded into their car.  

Vino was super happy with all the gifts. He was counting the toys he would get, but I told him I had told the guests who asked that his interests have shifted from toys to other things. He was a bit sad about it, which I totally understand, but logistically, it was going to be difficult to bring toys back to SG. 

Besides, he’s had a lot of toys, and most of them are just collecting dust in the play room. 

I love the fact that we have enough clothes to update his current wardrobe, and everything looked like they fit his personality. He got a couple of bags he can use for football training, football jerseys, clothes that fit his drip, a badass pencil case, a personalised box for legos, a football pillow, a football night light, and a football training thing. 

With every gift, he was super excited. I could tell he was waiting for toys, like I was when I was his age, but unlike me, he was truly excited about everything else. 

Later that night, EJ, Kim, and Shara all came by for dinner and a nightcap. I planned to cook because I promised Shara I would, but Che said we’ll do it some other weekday. We got Manam, which has become a go-to food spot for us during this trip because of proximity and the fact that it is actually nice. 

We went on to watch EJ’s current show, Ghosting (on iWant) and compared it with the PH version of It’s Ok to Not Be Ok (on Netflix). I’ll leave our conversations about it out of this blog for you to check them out yourselves. 

Both Vino and Che fell asleep on the couch, while the four of us continued talking while having a nightcap. 

Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of all of us together again. I know I’ve been doing this blog for more than two months now, but taking photos just really isn’t muscle memory for me.

They asked why I didn’t ask Che to transfer to the bed, and I said, she’s staying because her mind wants to, but her body cannot. I know Che can somehow hear us even if she’s dreaming, so I told them to let her be. 

It was around 2am when the whole “party” day finally ended. 

Words can’t express how grateful I am for a day like this. 

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