The New Yorkers Home for aWedding...

My kids' paternal second cousins from New York came home 2 weeks ago for a wedding. Both bride and groom are based in New York. But like most Filipino families living overseas, their heritage remains deeply rooted in their veins. Though the groom was born and bred in New York, he wanted their wedding held at their neighborhood church which I heard his father helped build. When asked by the priest why he wanted to get married in Manila, he said that whenever he was here for vacation, he felt he was always coming home.

Ex-President Cory Aquino who lives in the same neighborhood here as the groom's family, attended the wedding. I saw her laughing and amused when during the offering ceremony, the bride's New York-born and bred male cousin marched towards the altar with his 5'8" statuesque model-like sister (what a real beauty!). He sported a thick, waist-length curly hair and a beard longer than Bin Laden's (his uncle jokingly introduced him to us as Bin Laden's relative ). The ex-President interrupted the picture-taking at the altar after the wedding to greet the new bride and groom and to have a picture with them taken before she left.

All 3 families from the bride's side came home for the wedding. A cousin who was last here in 1975 requested that we attend the wedding because she wanted to meet me (and I thought, ohhh ok...) The wedding somehow softened the bride's family's mourning for the 5 relatives who perished in a New York fire last December. The lone surviver from the fire also had his 22nd birthday yesterday. He seemed to enjoy himself as he and his cousins tried to outdo each other on the dance floor doing the typical New York streetdances. Maybe it was just as well that my kids hadn't been there. My daughter looking so much like his late 11-year old sister could have affected him last night. Too bad though that they weren't able to enjoy the night with their second cousins.

The flower girl at my wedding is now 22 and such a tomboy with very short boyish haircut. She even wore a man's Barong instead of a dress. I didn't recognize her when I saw her for the first time after more than 15 years. She didn't look female, lol.

Somehow I enjoyed the celebration, too. The food was really good ( but I couldn't jump in and swim on the chocolate fountain like someone suggested since it was just a fondue ) .The relatives were nice to me. But since I have future plans, I couldn't help keeping my distance....