The Christmas table

Christmas, as far as I can remember, has meant one simple picture: My family (my father, mother and my eight siblings) gathered around a crowded table, plates touching, voices overlapping, and the night outside feeling quieter than usual.

- OF TREES AND FOREST FORMER SENATE PRESIDENT MANNY VILLAR

The lights on the parol would glow softly by the window, and somewhere in the background, an old Christmas song would play from a radio that sometimes crackled. But the real music was at the table—spoons against plates, small bursts of laughter, my Nanay Curing’s tired but satisfied smile as she watched everyone share a simple meal: Keso de bola, asmall ham, spaghetti, bibingka. Inthose moments, it felt like the whole year led to this: To being together, to sharing food, to remembering that we belonged to one another.