The reDiscovery Channel
My husband's youngest brother, Vic, was in town last week for a couple of days. Now this brother of his hardly says a word (though Joey tells me Vic is also a joker, just like him and Don, Joey's twin). You ask him a question, he only nods or shakes his head in reply. You talk to him, he gives you a brief response. "Isang tanong, isang sagot", as the Filipino saying goes. You can tell -- in the number of years Joey and I have been married (and Vic and I have been in-laws) and living in Manila, Vic and I hardly ever had a decent conversation. Until now.

Vic came to Phoenix on Thursday early early early morning. His damn plane had to turn back due to landing gear trouble (scary!), and they had to re-board another carrier. My brother-in-law, Toto/Tony, could not bear to let me go to the airport all by myself at midnight to fetch Vic (Joey was out of town for the night, on business), so he accompanied me. After much resistance, we both ended up taking a nap on the airport couches a good 20 minutes before Vic came out of the gate. What was originally 1201AM became 140AM. We arrived home at around 215AM, and I slept at 330AM ... three hours before wake-up time for work!

Since I was at work and Joey was out of town, it was good to leave Vic all alone in the apartment for the day -- it gave him a chance to look around (and take photos), and get himself comfortable, with nobody to bother him. By the time I got home at 545PM, he had already watched a portion of "Band of Brothers" on DVD, played with Joey's PlayStation 2, used the computer to do e-mail, deposited some sweets and goodies on the kitchen counter, and got all comfy on our sofa. Our renewed relationship was off to a good start (meaning, he did not feel restricted nor intimidated by my OC'ness)!

We spent days and nights together, eating, shopping, watching The Military Channel (oh, this is so not me!), and going around malls and outlet stores. Joey and I also surprised him with tickets to the NBA Game. The Phoenix Suns won over the Los Angeles Lakers, Vic's former favorite team. Now, I don't know which team he rooted for in this particular game!

Alas, Vic's visit had come to an end. Joey and I brought him to the Sky Harbor airport yesterday afternoon, and saw him off until he passed through the metal detector, proceeding to the waiting area. What started off as loko-loko "iyak na ako!" turned out to be this -- Marife with tears in her eyes, and Joey getting all choked up as he said goodbye to his youngest brother. We waved at each other like crazy before he disappeared.

I wrote Vic a goodbye card and gave it to him before we walked to the gate of the terminal. In it, I thanked him for the wonderful togetherness, the time he spent and effort he made just to be with us, and for making us happy with his presence.

I also thanked him for the golden opportunity given the two of us to get to know each other a little better and deeper, in those short five days. Our communication was no longer limited to his head nods and shakes, nor to his one-liner responses. We had real conversations and comments between us! The Vic Macasaet ice had been broken, and our relationship rediscovered and renewed.

When writing my in-laws, I usually end the piece by signing "Joey & Marife". This time, the card I gave Vic was all mine -- I signed it as "Love, Your Shopping Partner, Marife".