Grandma's 90th Birthday

Grandma’s 90^th Birthday

The reason why we were here was for Grandma’s 90^th Birthday. It was a big event. My dad would spend big money on the catering and entertainment. The prep work started the day before. My dad hired these people to make a lot of food, these weren’t the caterers. I know, it’s complicated. Let me say that my grandmother invited the first wave of people, these people were her family and close associates. Then she invited the entire area of Ondoy to the party through word of mouth, this is what I interpreted as the second wave. The people my dad hired were for the second wave. These people slaughtered some pigs and cattle’s, then started cooking it. They spent a full 24 hours slicing and cooking the food. I stayed up late trying to take pictures of them. I got tired from drinking San Miguel, so I went to sleep. I woke up the next morning with only a few hours of sleep, and these people were still cooking. They would continue to cook until the party started. On party day, we woke up early and went to mass. My grandmother paid big money to have mass on a Thursday. Mass was a typical Sunday mass. I didn’t have too much interest in it, but was glad that my entire family was able to participate. First my brother and sister read a verse from the bible. Then my entire intermediate family grabbed the offerings on the table and brought it up to the priest. The mass ended with the church singing happy birthday to my Grandmother. She cried and cried. One thing I remembered about her as a child was that she is very religious. She never missed church. I remember going with her on Sundays when I was young. After the party, we drove back to grandma’s house and the party started. I think about 1,500 people were invited, but it appeared that only 300 people showed up. Salazar a school teacher was the MC and she created the agenda. The problem was that we didn’t know what the agenda was. But like all parties, we went with the flow. I gave the opening welcome which I thought went okay. Since I’m a foreigner, I was limited in what I could present. My brother sang the closing song, he did well. That is what he likes to do. The party went on into the evening and early morning. I was exhausted and vaguely remember taking my dad upstairs in the wee hours of the morning.