HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025!!! It’s a brand new year. I hope your 2024 New Year’s Eve was safe, blessed, and amazing. I pray that 2025 will be the year you find peace, that you move forward with your plans, and that the Lord blesses you with the hopes, dreams, and desires of your heart! It’s the Year of the Rooster! Let’s rock 2025, fellow muses!!!
MY FAMILY IS SICK. But we are happy and blessed. My wife got a cough, fever, and has had it for the last few days of December. My eldest son got sick on New Year’s Eve. And today my youngest woke up with a slight fever and a little cough. I have a tickle in my throat, and my daughter seems to be all right. But aside from some sickness, the Lord is guiding our steps into 2025. I’m ready!
I am currently listening to Dax- “God’s Eyes”
LIVING HERE HAS BEEN WEIRD. I come from a family that celebrates every holiday. Every achievement. Every accomplishment. But here? My wife’s family doesn’t celebrate anything.
My sister-in-law had a birthday in November. It was the most awkward birthday I have ever been to. So, for context, birthdays in my house were celebrations. My parents would get you balloons, and a cake, cook your favorite food, and everyone would gather in the kitchen and everyone would sing happy birthday. They would light the candles, walk the cake in, and cut the cake. They’d take care of you, and prepare everything.
Here? They got my wife’s sister a cake and put the boxed candles and a knife in front of her. Everyone was seated at the table, and no one helped her. They watched her open the candles, put them on, and struggle to light them. And when it was time to sing Happy Birthday, it was like they never sang it before. The dad spent more than 10 minutes looking for a Happy Birthday song, so they could sing to it. And when he finally found the song, no one really sang. It was so awkward! I was like wtf is happening right now?
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS WAS THE SAME. Christmas, my wife’s family decorated, sure. But on Christmas Day it was just another day. No singing. No Christmas movies. No celebration. Just presents and then on with the day. It seemed no different than another day.
And on New Year’s Eve, there was no party. No drinking, no laughter, no toasting, no resolutions, no counting down together and shouting Happy New Year. It was just another day. They all sat around like they do every day. And by 11 pm, the lights were off and they all went to sleep. It was just another day.
Me, my wife, and our kids did have our own celebration, so it was still blessed. My parents got us presents, my brother took us out for gifts, food, and dinner, and a few days later, my sister-in-law got me a remote-controlled BB8 unit! So Christmas was still blessed. We did a countdown with our kids on New Year’s, so we had our own festivities as we listened to the rest of the neighborhood partying and shooting fireworks. It was different, but still good!
THIS IS THE FIRST NEW YEAR and Christmas I didn’t celebrate with a huge party. My family would have huge parties, and large gatherings, where families from all over would come to my parent’s house. There would be laughter, drinking, and lots of food. Filipino food! Filipino household and hospitality. It’s been that way for my whole life.
When I dropped out of college and moved back home in 2010, I spent every New Year and holiday at my parents’ house. The house was sold in October 2024, but I will hold on to the memories. This was the first time that I wasn’t surrounded by family and laughter, and I kind of missed it.
BECAUSE THE YEARS HAVE BEEN ROUGH I did, at the time, start to hide away from the parties around 2021. They were too loud, I didn’t want to answer family questions about what I was doing, and there were always too many people. I started doing my own thing, staying in the room with a small celebration with my wife and kids. I felt like I was done with them.
But being here made me realize that even if I wasn’t into the loud parties, I still loved the celebration. I miss the togetherness and the merrymaking. Here, there’s no celebration. No party. No laughter or food. Just another day. And it’s so weird! I mean I didn’t want to party before, yeah, but I celebrated in my own way. It was still a special meaningful day to me, and I celebrated in some shape or form. But here? It’s like nothing means anything. They just go about their business and that’s it. Nothing is a celebration. Every day is mundane. I’m like wow?
2025 IS HERE. And I plan to push my work, projects, and life forward. As my man Gary Vee says, document, don’t create. And I’mma document this journey. Thank you for coming along! I hope you’re doing well, take care, and God bless. You Rock!
