The Road to 40 Day 72/365: Recharge and chika

It was a big day yesterday, and it’s Che’s first time to get some rest, but we planned to see people towards the end of the day.

Che and Vino got up close to 12 noon already, and they needed it. Vino was super active in his party yesterday, while Che arrived at 3am before Vino’s morning party. Catching up on sleep and rest would do them good, so I just did the blog while they slept.

For some reason, Jollibee delivery on Grab or the app doesn’t allow us to order their breakfast meals even at 9:30am. With Che determined to get corned beef, we ended up ordering Sinangag Express.

She’s not normally a breakfast person, but she loves breakfast food. I think she’s exactly the market for all-day breakfast restaurants.

I was set to meet my cousin Moses on this day, and we settled on 4pm. He said he and his boyfriend would try to make it by 3pm, but Mo ended up coming over at 2pm.

Mo is one of my younger cousins who I never got to hang out with during my teenage years. I would play with them while they were younger, but at some point, our interests diverted. At some point, we grew as adults and the line that separated us because of age difference faded.

Honestly, I’m super proud of how this guy turned out. Growing up in a family that is very patriarchal, my dad’s side of the family exudes toxic masculine energy combined with boomer mentality. Needless to say, being queer is not only frowned upon, but ridiculed.

There are some who hope and try to break this cycle, but it’s rooted in practically all of us.

We’ve always thought Mo was gay, but it remained a running joke that was whispered among us when we talked. At least for my batch of cousins, I can say that we’re only making fun of it because he’s trying so hard to hide it when we see it a mile away.

At some point, he decided to come out to his family. In an instance when the family gathered together in our home province, his mom revealed it to everyone. To her surprise, no one was surprised.

After he came out, he became who he always needed to be – a ball of energy that lights up any room because of his personality. He claims to be our uncles and aunts’ favorite among 40+ cousins, and I don’t disagree. He broke the wall of toxic masculinity and old boomer mentality and sprinkled a colorful rainbow in their lives they didn’t know they needed.

There are times that some people still have something to say about him and his life choices, but he has learned to not give a rat’s ass about other people’s opinions.

It was our first time meeting Carlito, his boyfriend, and he’s just perfect for him. He’s calm and patient – two important qualities to deal with the crazy in Mo. Mo has been telling us about him, and I’ve seen them in photos, so it was almost like we’ve known him forever when we finally saw each other.

As always, time flew by as we talked. We were so busy with all the tea, updates, and whatnot, that I failed to take a photo of us together again.

Later, we went to meet Che’s family at Pink’s, which we were talking up to them last time around. Kathreen will be flying out this week, so this was a chance for the family to get togeher.

We didn’t reserve a function room, but it looked that way after the people left. There were a lot of laughs and noise, and we had our kanal cocktail tasting – one of each, and all the glasses went around for everyone to try.

With bellies filled and our alcohol cravings a bit satisfied, we went up to the room for some more time together.

We played Pinoy Henyo again and later checked out the pictures from Vino’s birthday. It could be better, honestly, but at least there were captured moments.

It’s going to be a work and school day tomorrow, so we appreciate that they stayed until late. Che immediately crashed on the bed, while Vino took a bit longer as he struggled to find his spot.

Start of the new week tomorrow, hopefully, the rain stops so we can enjoy the days ahead. 

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