The Plan @50

The plan was only to have an intimate family dinner for my 50th, which we usually do on any birthday celebration among us. Almost all are at Mommy Lu's, this simple, rustic little restaurant near our place in La Union, owned by a friend of the family,  which serves really good food. You can never go wrong with Mommy Lu's. Since my actual birthday fell on a weekday this year, we decided to schedule it on  weekend before the date. Which we did, and had a lovely dinner and a great evening. 

Aside from the  expenses I imagined it to be if I mounted a celebration, I was lost as to where I was to hold it. I was born in Manila, raised there, went to college in Baguio City, spent teenage years in Caba, La Union, started a family in San Fernando, La Union, worked there for the longest time, assigned in Ilocos Norte for six years, then in Ilocos Sur for the past three. The decision came to me to celebrate it when I realized I have reached the age when my mother passed, and also, that my father passed away at 46. Surviving up to this age was reason enough have a celebration in thanksgiving to all who have been part of my life the past half-century. 

I chose to celebrate it in Ilocos Sur, because of the raw, at times, brutal authenticity of the people I share my life with here. I turned 50 here, in this quiet province, (now vibrant with local tourists), and it is here where I was embraced with the honest warmth of people at a time when I was dealing with my deepest crises. 

My prayers about the expenses were answered by an offer to shoulder half of the expenses by a dear childhood friend, who started to message me asking about where to buy 'masa pudrida', this bread made in Abra that she saw on my posts. The chat went from bread, to my life, and this giant leap to, 'let me shoulder half of the costs for the celebration'. Truth be told, I almost fell off my chair, really. Only the night before that chat, I was deeply disturbed by a close friend's seeming betrayal for the years past that I was only made aware of lately. I was crushed. God perhaps saw that it was too much for me to bear, that He blessed me with this chat when I woke up the day after.