Reunions

Two days before last Christmas Day, I was in Boljoon and I saw how schools of fish swam freely in the waters in the private beach house of Dodong and Baby Niere. You need not dive deep. Just a few meters from the beach grounds, the bread you   hold can easily attract various colored fishes to surround you like bees to honey.

I’ve always wondered why a fish groupie is called a “school” just like flock is to sheep/birds; gaggle is to geese; and herd is to cattle.

My internet search told me that “school of fish” isn’t defined by a specific number but simply means “a large group or multitude” hanging out together or sticking together to protect each other, just like kids with similar interests in schools.

The other day, I hung out with my own roots. On my mother side, the Llanto clan had a grand family reunion in San Fernando, Cebu and though I stayed for only four hours, it was great to see generations of my mom’s lineage coming together.

Reunions never fail to establish everyone’s relationship to one another, sort of like a recap for all those who may have forgotten where they come from.

Last Friday was the second our relatives organized but it was the first I ever attended. I saw children meet and interact with grandparents and even great-grandparents that they may have moved away from as well as to interact with family members who are a part of their own history.

My son EJ saw a schoolmate from his college years in De La Salle University and learned on the spot that they were third degree cousins. They are also officemates at present but  never knew they were relatives!

For my part, there were babies and youngsters introduced to me. It made me reflect on my own accomplishments as I listened to their parents share to me their plans for the future.

Funny thing is that I never cared for reunions, whether it be school or family. Were it not for my mother, I wouldn’t have been at that town gym last Friday mingling with hundreds of relatives from different lineages of her grandparents’ roots.

But I guess it’s a sign of my growing older, too. Usually, new graduates from schools are excited to attend the first or second year of reunion. Then they lose interest and time to attend more of these events as they move forward in their lives—career moves, relocations, marriage. Their priorities change and reunions are pushed way down low.

Then they find themselves with extra time as their children grew to adulthood. When the latter move out of the house, there comes the nudge to look back and rekindle old relationships.

So they start looking for old classmates and start to attend reunions, if not even spearhead one. The interesting thing is that they now bring their children—a natural tendency to show their own “accomplishments” in life, just like how I herded my three children to last Friday’s reunion. Even as I saw them yawning during the program or look confused when introduced to Uncle X or Auntie Y or Cousin Z, there’s always that pride of telling someone else who they are today.

Then the cycle begins all over again. My children wouldn’t be interested in reunions on their own in the near future, but may look forward to one when they will have their own grown-up children and extra time to spare.

Christmas is always a good time for reunions. Not only that it’s the time when relatives or classmates out of the country or the province come home, but the season focuses on the real reason for our existence—Jesus.

Because of His birth, we gain the gift of salvation. We earned another chance to join the ultimate of all reunions—the grand homecoming in the house of our Father God in Heaven. This is where our final home is. And this is where the reunion has no sense of time. There is infinite joy.

So as 2012 starts today, I pray we all resolve to make ready our souls to reunite with God any time. A lot of talks are going around that this year may be the end of times. But no one really knows. St. Matthew wrote, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”

The real question is, are we ready for the grand reunion in Heaven whenever this will be? We can only know on our own. How are we to stand before God when we come face to face with Him?

Maybe, as Sebastian Bach once said, we can have a reunion with our own selves. Introspect, reflect and resolve how to change our lives to be worthy of Heaven more than for the world.

When we come to terms of accepting who we are with higher levels of patience, compassion, and respect, it will be easy for us to know what to do that can please God. And what pleases God always reunites our souls to Him.

I may not have much interest in reunions, but this one in Heaven I surely will dare not miss. Hope we will all be there.