The Departure

Yes, you read the title right.  The Departure.  My parents and sister left for the Philippines.  My sister left last Saturday and will be returning on February 28; whereas my parents just left on Valentine's day and will be back on the 23rd.  That means I am here in Canada all by myself.  Okay, well not really alone because I have Glenn and his family and some friends who are looking after me; but you know what I mean. 


This was actually a last minute kind of trip.  Well, we have known for so long  that my brother is getting married on Saturday, February 18, 2012 but because of our situation last year, we told my brother that we won’t be able to attend his wedding.  Of course we wanted to go, I wanted to go.  But then, we just can’t.  And so until December of last year, I knew that we won’t be able to fly back to the Philippines in time for his wedding. 

A few things changed during the end of last year.  My dad finally got back to his feet and is now completely well.  No sleeping issues, no nothing.  Thank goodness!  He also was able to get a job in his area of expertise – accounting.  But even then, I still thought that there will be no trip because we were still in the process of moving forward and recovering from our past issues.  Late December, they have decided that they want to go back home even for just a week.  

They asked me if I wanted to go.  Of course, I do.  But  I had issues with my vacation days at work as well as in the financial area.  My parents said that if my boss would not allow me for a month of vacation, then maybe even for a week will work just fine.  Yeah, if it’s just about the wedding and seeing my cute little niece, then a week is fine.  But then, for a $1400 plane ticket to the Philippines, and don’t forget the pocket money, one week just wouldn’t do.  If I will take  a trip there, I want it to be a real vacation.  I want to go to the beach, tour the whole country and not worry about my bank account.  I don’t like to go there and come back and have regrets of not being able to visit all the places I want to go to, do all the things I want, eat my Filipino food cravings, etc.  So, I think you get the point.  I was just being realistic and practical here. 

So, there you go.  After they have confirmed that they will be going to the Philippines, of course, all the shopping began.  We bought gifts for everybody.  I got so crazy shopping for my niece, Chelsea.  She is turning 8 months on the 19^th and so I got her gifts for all her birthday months that I’ve missed.  I did a little DIY on her gifts and you can find it here. 

Oh well… So yeah, as their departure date got nearer, they became more excited and I was kind of having mixed emotions.  I am glad that they will be able to attend the wedding and see my brothers and other relatives, but then of course, I will be left alone here.  Instead of buying a plane ticket to go there, I just gave  my brother a monetary wedding gift.  It’s not really a lot, but it’s still something. J  I also gave my sister and parents a little something because I also wanted to buy a lot of stuff from back home because its way cheaper there. 

Going back to the departure story, we all went to the airport to accompany my sister.  While we were waiting for her boarding time, Glenn and I were still able to stroll around the airport.  I didn’t want to think about their trip too much because it just makes me sad.  And so, to divert all those sadness, we just took quite a number of photos! 

When it was time for her to board the plane, we just hugged and said our see you laters.  That’s it.  There were no tears because it was just a quick goodbye.  If we stayed there longer, there probably would have been a lot of waterworks.

When my parents left just the other day, it was a different case.  They just rented a cab to take them to the airport.  I had work that day and so I couldn’t accompany them.  When the cab was there, I accompanied them to the lobby and I told myself I wouldn’t cry.  But then,  as they were putting their luggage in the trunk, I started to shed a tear, which turned out into a burst of tears and sobbing.  We just hugged each other and they said they love me.  I wasn’t even able to respond to that because I was crying so hard. 

I watched as the cab started to go and I just waved at them.  I went back upstairs and of course, called Glenn and cried even more.  After he was able to calm me down, I just started to work on my Valentine’s day surprise (which will be in a different post *wink) and did it pretty quick as I needed to go to work.   

The world won’t stop just because they left, right?  On the bright side, 7 more days until my parents will arrive! J

Xoxo

Ida