Having reached the age of 60 is a great privilege! It's always been my dream and certainly my prayer to reach that age to enjoy my "pohon" (soon) retirement (with God's grace and guidance). We have different exits as we deal with our lives daily. We don't know when and how will be taken, so as long as we live, live our lives to the fullest. Make most of the time spending and spreading love to our loved ones, even to the most hated enemies.
Speaking of love, the love of our parents is incomparable. We do the usual things like greet them, check on them, give monthly allowance (if necessary), give extra time to go out, and even give extra credit during special days.
So today, I'll be sharing with you how we spent our mother's 60th birthday together with our siblings, relatives, and neighbors at Playa Del Carmelo in Maravilla, Tabuelan, Cebu, Philippines as we embrace our mother being an official senior citizen.
Prepared an extra gift for my mother and father. For my mother, I bought perfume, lotion, and dress. For my father, four-pocket short and kulafu, since he always asked me this😅.
We are seven siblings in the family, so we planned this celebration since we're busy with our work. We divided all the expenses and preparations. My mother's birthday falls on weekdays, so we moved it to the weekend so all of us can attend. Moreover, my father's birthday falls on the next week, so it's a double celebration!
During that day, I and my two other siblings went ahead to the resort to check bigger-sized cottages to cater to all of the attendees and to set up everything. The cottage costs 800 pesos and can cater to 20 people.
This is the tarpaulin we set up. I also included my father's birthday which he turned 62 the next day.
My Mother at 60
My mother whom I depended on when I was still young. A mother who takes care of us when get sick and even nags at us, still the endless love is there. Our beloved mother, Mama Belen.
At her age, I can see how blessed we are to her being our mother. She's energetic and probably can take care of her grandchildren. At first, she didn't want to celebrate her birthday so we could save money, however, my brother insisted on celebrating because we already had a plan. Also, she cried, why my brother bought a live pig to be roasted but the celebration must going on since we already started it.
My mother is a thrift one. She used to hide money so she could use it for the coming days. And now, I can relate and understand that I am a mother also.
Almost a complete family. Our elder brother didn't make it due to his work in the city. So only the six of us have been appearing.
Mama, her sibling, and her father
Mama Belen and Papa Pito
As soon as my family arrived at the beach, we had a picture taking. While the photo op was ongoing, father was teary-eyed and looked as happy as one of a family. The bond as a family was made even stronger as the years passed. Though we have misunderstandings the love for our family remains.
After the pictorial, we blessed the food through prayer and sang Happy Birthday to the celebrant. The next thing that happened was eating time!
While eating our lunch, I was enticed by the inviting sea. Some beachgoers were already enjoying the waves and the abundance of the ocean. This celebration would not be completed if we weren't able to dip in the sea.
That's all for our birthday celebration hivers. Spending time with our loved ones is essential. I joBEElieve I can, so you can!