A Draft: Reconnecting family ties.

Hello, dearest Hivers. This is J once again and I’m going to share you my almost forgetter experience with my family.

Family is like the most vital thing in our body; we can't function well if the relationship is defacement. And if we let the heat consume our inner character, The ties we built for the past few years would drift apart as bitterness in life commenced.

Last Monday, April 8, 2024. It was a normal day for us. But because of the intense heat, The university and other schools decided to use an online modality program. So, fellow hivers, don't forget to stay hydrated and live healthy.My aunt texted me, "We will visit today with your grandma." We haven't seen each other for the longest time as I can remember.

Because of the busy schedule, we don't talk in chat at all without any well-founded reason. She also inquired if we had mangos here. I said yes because my father's parents are farmers, and I'm proud to have come from that kind of family. However, the sad part of being a farmer is that you have to be under the sun at all times and work extra hard for its price. What I love about my roots is that we are family-oriented.

My two aunts are with their sons, and my grandma has arrived. I did "mano po" (gesture) as my youngest sibling because the other one is in the city and since it's a Filipino belief as a sign of respect to the oldest. They bring fresh fish from the market to grill, as well as pork chops, sea moss, or guso, tiny fish called tagom-tagom in our dialect, and sakura shrimp, or hipon, for green mangoes. I'm the one who cooked the hipon or baggong, but since we don't have chili at the moment, I use chili powder for kimchi. They always do that every time they visit our house.

They are the ones who will bring the foods to prepare. After the preparation of all the needed foods, we decided to eat the foods under the tree. If you are wondering why the tree looks like it is lying down, the reason is that it was hit by a typhoon called Yolanda in 2013. We eat the food there because it’s fresh air. The breeze of the province's air is wholesome and natural; there's no pollution, just air.

We transfer the blanket and prepare it; we cut banana leaves and clean them to put our foods in; we also bring water to wash our hands, plates, and others that are necessary to use.
We have grilled fish and pork, green mangoes, as well as the tiny fish called tagom-tagom. We also prepare green mangoes because it’s mango season. Soft drinks and cucumbers as well.

My aunt also updates her social media, which is Facebook. She did it live, and we talk about things that can make our relationship strong. We don’t usually see them because of their busy schedules, but it’s nice to see that they visit us even though they are also busy.
That’s all for this blog. Thank you for being with me.