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by Philipina A. Marcelo
The past how many years, my siblings and I normally celebrate birthdays and other special occasions with some preparations. By "preparation", I mean we cook... or, if we're not able to cook, we reserve a place in a fave restaurant and we eat together. With my five siblings (three of them are married), and a very close cousin (almost a sister who is also married), an uncle who is very close to us, nine nieces, two nephews and three grandkids (via nieces), our family is big enough to have a huge party... so, we normally do not invite friends anymore. We hold a separate celebration with our friends. Occasionally, we invite my siblings' in-laws... when there's enough time for cooking, or preparing the menu for pre-ordered food, that is.
My older sister's 44th birthday on March 12th was a different story. We were all very busy with work... she just texted us - siblings, telling us that she was dropping
by our house with take-out food 'cause her husband was working late and won't be home until about midnight - they've already "celebrated" in the morning. One sister and I decided to go pick up food via drive-thru, while my other sister and her fiancé ordered food for delivery! And so, we got together at our house with our "food to go"... the funniest part was, we forgot to invite our Dad who lived in the same house! =) He was fast asleep when we all reached home, late in the evening... and so, we celebrated - party of five... with take out food! But we had so much fun... our Dad was awoken by the noise, and he got up to greet my sister, and eat - our left-overs! =)Uh-hmmm... just when we had money to celebrate properly... what we didn't have was time! :(
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