The (musical) Force is strong in my family. I have 8 brothers and sisters, and along with one spouse, nieces, nephews, my nieces’ sons and my own 2 daughters, we all reside in the 3 states up and down the west coast. With everyone’s busy lives and hectic schedules and living in different states we rarely get together except through social media. But recently, organized by my sister Vicky, some of us found the time to gather in Seattle. Along with my youngest daughter Kelsey and a few friends, we even attended a Dodgers vs Mariner’s game at Safeco Field.
Back at my place, while visiting and catching up, we laughed and reminisced as we feasted on Cantonese take-out and afterwards shamelessly sang-out our favorite karaoke tunes. In an impromptu session I got together with my brothers Ken, Oh Cee and our nephew Matthew for a jam session in my home studio (of course missing our brother Tops who we lost to cancer, but his old bass guitar was present along with his musical spirit).
We’ve come a long way from the days when we were dependent on the pony express for communication. We are fortunate to live in a time where social media is available. It can serve as a wonderful, convenient and instant conduit keeping global family, dear friends and loved ones close and connected. But there is nothing like spending actual family time with each other. While we were together after all these years, I could feel our parents smiling down on us. I even think I heard mom telling me to clean my room, and in Tagalog yet.