Thanks for the Visit!

It's been more than a month now when we were visited by two lovely women. My aunt Bing and Menchu. They are the sisters of my mother who currently live in the US. They announced their arrival way ahead and everyone was very excited to have them around again.
My cousin Joel was in charge of their pick up. They arrived from the airport and was brought to another cousin's home in Marikina. The home of my cousin Ramon Buenavista. They stayed there during their entire stay in Manila. Too bad, when they initially planned for the trip, they were thinking of being around for my  aunt Pat's birthday. Unfortunately, my aunt passed away last December. But they still pushed through with their trip, rain or shine.
We greeted them with warm embraces. I was so surprised to see my Aunt Bing! I almost cried when I saw her. She looks exactly like my Aunt Baby who passed away a year before. She gained a few pounds last time I saw her and to my surprise, they're exact replicas! Well, they came form the same mother...
We had some local dishes that they've haven't had for a long time, the famous "Pinakbet" was served by my cousins courtesy of Randy, who was in-charge of the cooking. We also had the time to bond. We haven't seen each other for quite some time, so it was a chance for us to have a few chit-chat with each other.
A few weeks after their arrival, they visited my father and had a look at his condition. The entire gang was together again and we had a chance to drink with uncle Joe, the only living brother of my mom. We talked about the good old days and how simple life was then.

Their bon voyage party was held at my cousin Bubut Nadal's place. Earlier that last week, we had a christening party then the big feast was celebrated. The party coincided with my aunt Pat's 40 days. So we gathered again for a feast and munched our way to artery bursting goodies.
It's been a few weeks now since they've left. They earlier announced that this will probably be their last trip to the Philippines because they're too old to travel in the future. We will always remember that wonderful moment they spent with us and we hope that another gathering like this will come our way to strengthen the bond that we all have as a family. Aunt Bing and Aunt Menchu, thank you for spending time with all of us here in Manila. We love you very much!