Holiday Cheer

CLOCKWISE from left: Liza, Aiza and Amara

LIZA DIÑO-SEGUERRA

Actress

Wedding preparations got the better of us. (After the Dec. 8 ceremony in the United States, there will be another one in the Philippines on Jan. 8.) Since we were so busy, Aiza (Seguerra) and I failed to make a big deal of our first Christmas together as a family.

On Christmas Day, I read my daughter Amara’s letter to Santa Claus. All she wanted was a lemonade stand. Her wish was to sell lemonade and donate the earnings to the less fortunate. My heart broke.

I looked around our home and felt dismayed because there was not a single Christmas decor—no stockings, no wreaths, no mistletoe, no tree. I told Amara that Santa could leave his gift for her only under a tree. So we had to put up a tree in another place.

The house was a mess so Aiza and I decided to check in at Discovery Suites.

Aiza suggested that I get a small tree from the mall. The sales people willingly helped me decorate it. Then I shopped for groceries, for our Christmas dinner.

When we got to the hotel room, Amara saw the tree and the gifts under it right away. The look on her face was priceless.

Earlier that day, both families, the Seguerras and Diños, called up to say they were coming for  dinner with us.

I whipped up bacon-tomato-basil pasta, pan-seared herbed pork loin, winter harvest salad with caramelized pili nuts and raspberry vinaigrette and sautèed shrimps.

It was a simple family meal, but everyone enjoyed the impromptu get-together. Aiza usually feels depressed during the holidays, but this year the blues were gone. What started as a spontaneous plan will become an annual holiday tradition for us. Bayani San Diego Jr.