Family news

 Sad news for the family: Joy's nephew, who had cancer, has died. So another funeral for her family.

Sigh. Keep them in your prayers.

The hot season is continuing, but it is starting to rain a bit so the monsoon (where we have daily showers) is coming.

Sunday is the town fiesta for Mama Mary, (the town shrine is la Divina Pastora, the Holy Shepherdess of Souls) so there will be a lot of visitors here, church services, a parade from the church, and also a city parade.

We haven't had much of a fiesta or parade for the last two years, but now that the covid epidemic is pretty well finished (192 cases 52 deaths yesterday in the whole country) presumably we can again hold parties and have a huge parade.

that means people will be coming from all over the Philippines and all over the world for family reunions and to celebrate. 

Lolo always took his vacation to come here for the fiesta and parade, and because he was considered a WWII veteran, he would be among the veterans who led the parade.

 He would bring a couple thousand dollars in cash, plus good quality American clothing with him as gifts. The relatives all came to say hello and were given a small gift, and even the farmers who had worked on his family land before land reform would come and give him a small gift and receive a few pesos in return.

His friends would all stay here for the fiesta, and they'd drink, play cards and tell stories.

and then, every year there would be fewer, and then they led the parade inside of a car, and the last few years before he died, he didn't go at all.

Sad. The greatest generation here has passed.