Friday, January 4, 2008

Dear Koen,

Happy New Year! You turned 23 months old yesterday and what a whirlwind last year turned out to be. I thought it would be nice to tell you about your Christmas experience rather than do a recap of the year. But before I dive in to the details of your overabundance of presents, I'd like to comment that you've made your father very proud. Around the first week of December (2007) you were watching Sesame Street and there were some children doing Karate. You found it exciting and exhilarating to be able to copy them and do a perfect Front Straight Kick just as they were. Your Mom was quick to tell me this exciting news and since then, I've been coaching you every morning. However, since I've dropped Karate (Shotokan) from my Martial Studies many years ago, I've been teaching you Wing Chun, Bak Mei and Tai Chi (forms of Chinese Kung Fu.) Of the three, Tai Chi is by far the most fluid and graceful to watch you perform. My Sifu,
Bo Dah-Wai, would be very proud of you too.

Christmas 2007

Christmas is Christmas again, and your Daddy had the spirit. When I was a boy, your Lolo moved the family out here to California from the East Coast, Pennsylvania to be exact. Back then, Christmas always meant Midnight Mass, Snow, and lots of Toys - Star Wars, G.I. Joe, and Battlestar Galactica. However, our first Christmas here in California was different. It was hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I remember being in the car and asking your Lola why there wasn't any snow, or rain for that matter. She turned to me and said, "It doesn't snow here in Sacramento." That was the most absurd comment, I, a 10 year old boy had ever heard. "No snow in Sacramento?!" "And we're calling this place our home?!" If I wanted to see snow, we'd have to travel to a place called Lake Tahoe, which is about an hour and a half away. For a kid, an hour and a half is like a gazillion hours. Right then and there, the Spirit of Christmas DIED for me. Ask your Lola; I didn't want anything to do with Christmas. In my eyes, Christmas was Dead. Midnight Mass? Toys? Who cares? There wasn't any snow and that was all I kept thinking about.

You see, snow was my last hope. At age 8, I had already found out there wasn't a person called Santa Claus. Wait, should I be writing this? Hmm, I think it'll be alright. Once you actually take time to read this letter, you'll probably be about 26 years old. That's about the time when most young adults tend to out-grow the "it's all about me and my friends" attitude and family becomes important. But we'll save that for another letter. At age 8, 1978 on Christmas Eve, I snuck out of my bedroom and with some stealth ninja maneuvers, made my way to the Christmas tree to see if Santa had come and brought me the Battlestar Galactica Viper and Cylon Destroyer I had been asking for. Well, to my confusion, I saw your Lola placing some presents under the tree. I thought to myself, "Why is she awake?" "If she doesn't go to bed, Santa will never be able to bring my gifts." Hiding behind the living room couch, I waited for her to finally go to bed and I made my way to the tree. Like a naughty little boy, I decided to carefully open one corner of a gift that had my name on it. The same gift I witnessed your Lola placing under the tree. To my surprise, it was the Battlestar Galactica Viper I had asked for. Wait, "Why didn't Santa bring the gift himself?" I thought. Curiosity got the best of me and I carefully opened the corners of all the other gifts that had my name on them. Confused and not knowing what to think, I got up off the floor and sadly walked back to my bedroom and went to sleep.

The next morning, Christmas Day, I got out of bed and went out to the living room. Your Lola and Lolo were still asleep.
I wasn't in any hurry to wake them up. No. I was still confused. So I sat there on the couch with my head down and fell asleep. Next thing I knew, your Lola was waking me up. "Come on, let’s open your presents. Maybe Santa brought you what you've been asking for." "Yeah, right" I thought. I knew the truth. It all made sense to me. There wasn't a Santa Claus. There weren't any Reindeer. However, there was a Battlestar Galactica Viper and a Cylon Destroyer under the tree with my name on them. So I opened my presents and tried to act surprised. Later that day I asked your Lola if I could go outside and play with my new toys in the snow. Freezing and running around in the snow made me forget there wasn't a Santa Claus. It didn't matter; I was in complete bliss jumping in a snow pack that was waist deep. Just my Battlestar Galactica toys and me. The fact that there wasn't a Santa Claus didn't really matter, wonderful SNOW made up the difference.

Fast forward to 2007. Christmas Morning. You woke up around 8:30 your usual time. Your Mom and I weren't ready to get out of bed yet, but you were excited because we had been telling you that on Christmas morning there might be a train circling under the Christmas tree when you woke up. So I jumped out of bed and got the camera ready so we could have a "Kodak Moment" showing your facial expression when you saw all the presents and a train circling under the tree. You were a blur. You didn't stop to look out in the living room. No, you ran past me and dove under the tree to see the train on its tracks. You picked up the trains and began telling us about them and how excited you were that they magically appeared, because they weren't there the night before. It wasn't until after telling us about the train that you actually looked around the living room and saw the dozens of presents under the tree and a stocking hanging with presents under it.

You're probably wondering why there was only one stocking hanging. That's because your daddy is obsessed with
finding the right stocking with visual aesthetic. And the stockings that your Mom and I have just aren't good enough. However, the stocking that you see in the above picture was given to us from your Grandpa a few years before you
were born.

Later that morning your Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Joe came over around 10:00 am to have breakfast and open gifts. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention, it wouldn't be another day at the House of Pilapil without you getting into something. Unfortunately, that something happened to be your fingers getting caught in the refrigerator door.

After your fingers stopped throbbing, it didn't take long for you to get back into the spirit of unwrapping presents. You started by first unstuffing your stocking. With the look on your face, the stocking seemed to be bottomless. There were
T-Shirts, Flash Cards, Trains, DVD's and any little item that had Trains or Thomas the Train Engine on it.

Around 11:45 am you were only half way done opening your presents. You had to take a break because an hour of tearing wrapping paper, eating breakfast and playing with at least one toy was becoming very overwhelming. We could see it on your face. Once you recharged your battery you finally got to the gifts Santa left for you under your stocking. We asked you if you knew what they were and you instantly said, "Doodle." So, without hesitation you started to rip open the wrapping paper of one of the presents. Nope, it wasn't the Doodle. It was a Thomas Backpack. Finally, one last present, the moment of truth. (It almost felt like the movie A Christmas Story, when Ralphie finished opening all his presents and there was one last present behind the tree. He desperately wanted a BB Gun). We asked you one last time what the present could be and you blurt out "Doodle!" And, yes, Santa did not disappoint.

And there you have it. Christmas morning at the House of Pilapil. Oh, but wait. There's more...

That afternoon, we went to your Aunt Keri's house for Brunch, Lunch, Snacks, Food, and Sleep. To your Mom and my satisfaction it was very low key. We were there to enjoy the company of close family. However, it was also a non-formal goodbye for your cousin's, because they were moving to Oregon the following weekend. I wish I could have taken pictures that were clear, but the battery on the camera died and left me to use my phone. Non-the-less, I was able to take a few pictures of you showing your Cousin how to use his cool gift.

Around 4:00 pm you had not yet taken your nap and it was time to leave. We drove home to pickup Toby, the battery charger for the camera and get ready to go to your Lola and Lolo's house for more food and more presents. Thankfully, you fell asleep in the car on the way there. Once we arrived, your Mom rushed you to the back room to lay you down. Well, she was also tired and fell asleep with you. It wasn't until almost 7:00 pm when you both came out from the bedroom rested and ready to eat Lumpia and open more presents. So after a quick bite you dragged your Lolo into
the next room to start unwrapping. Lolo called out and said you had started without us.

Finally, after a long day of eating, visiting and unwrapping presents we made our way home to get some much-needed sleep. You may be asking yourself, seeing the pictures, if you were in your pajamas all day. The answer is yes. Rather than fight you on changing your clothes, your Mom and I decided to let you stay, as you were, comfortable. Don't worry; we did change your diaper more than once that day. Also, the pajamas were bought specifically for Christmas morning and you really loved wearing them, so why rock the boat.

A couple days after Christmas, you went to Downey with your Mom and Grandma to welcome the New Year. Unfortunately, I was unable to join you because of work. However, on my down time I reflected on Christmas and thought about what it now means to me as a father in his 30's. It also gave me a great opportunity to start writing this letter and sift through 400 pictures we took that day. Though it was stressful at times to try and make Christmas perfect for you, I kept thinking about how happy you were. Also how happy your Grandparents were to see the joy on your face. You weren't only happy because of all the presents, you were truly happy because you were surrounded by family all day. People you know and trust; people who love you unconditionally.

So here I am, 28 years later from when Christmas Died for me, and my little boy has re-taught me the spirit of Christmas. Koen, seeing your joy brought back so many childhood memories and the wonderful feelings of the Holiday Season. Your joy is infectious and I thank you for that gift.

Love,
Dad