 Distance Baby Shower Between California and Manila
By Lovely Aquino
The idea of a relative or a close friend having a baby is indeed a happy one. Hence, when one of my best girls spilled the good news, our small group was thrilled to host a baby shower.
Problem was...she’s out of the country. In fact, our long time buddy and grade school classmate, Blessy, has been living in California for more than twelve years now. She goes back to Manila every couple of years for vacation. The last was last year when she spilled news of getting married. With her little bean inside her tummy, she won’t be back for a year or so.
So, it can’t be the usual “surprise party” where the planner (or one of the well wishers) would lure the celebrant into thinking that they’d be going to the movies or wherever and then drive all the way to a hotel room or house where the party will begin. We thought, it ain’t gonna happen like that.
But there should be one of our beloved Blessy and we are not living in space age for nothing.
The planning part was easy because we had tons of ideas on how to make it extra special. The tough part was getting people together because of our crazy schedules. We thought of doing it on a holiday so everyone is off from work but family vacations we’re already mapped out for some. There’s also a 16-hour time difference between Manila and California that we had to consider.
Alas, we caught up with each other and finally set a date, not caring anymore about grandiose plans but just ensuring that everyone will be present. Aleli (who’s always organizing meet-ups for us) took care in informing Blessy that we’d meet her on cyberspace on a certain date and time. Everything was planned through text messages and online chats.
It was a very simple gathering. No hotels or restaurants. We decided to spend it at home. We ordered noodles and pizza. The group’s funny man, Ruel and his wife, Vina brought fresh fruits. Aleli made homemade brownies. And Arman (the gigolo) allowed us to meet his new girl up close.
Once the online patch was set up, everyone was thrilled. Although this was not as comfortable as seeing someone eye to eye, it is heart warming enough. It was more of the usual (but very missed) talk between friends, exchanging “how are you’s” and catching up on stories we haven’t got the chance to share. There was also a videoke machine Ruel brought to spice up the event. Really, singing makes every Filipino gathering a hit and this one’s no exception.
Of course, we had the chance to see the baby bean growing and her mother’s eyes glowing because of this new blessing. Blessy seemed to be perfectly happy and we couldn’t wish for more except that she’ll be continuously blessed.
The night ended with smiles and promises that we’ll set up another meeting like this.
Thank God for technology. We don’t really need to be physically present to send our cheers to our dears.
© Baby-Shower.com. All rights reserved.
To learn more about how to plan a long distance shower... |
Home
