By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Just this week, my family and I and my cousins received a package from our uncle, an OFW based in South Korea. The joy of opening the package with my family made me feel like a child opening presents on Christmas eve. As I’m sure many others with family members abroad can relate to, packages sent by these relatives are extra special.
Aside from the foreign brands and expensive goods in these “balikbayan” boxes, they contain something far more special or important. But as grand as these boxes can be, sometimes children don’t see it that way. As I remember way back when my cousins had a rocky relationship with their father (my uncle who sent the package) who was abroad, sometimes children see these boxes as reminders of their parents’ supposed “abandonment” of them.
Although as we grow older, we see these boxes for what they truly are. These packages are the fruits of labor and sacrifices from someone who was willing to cross an ocean, to a life of loneliness, for their loved ones. To walk away from your family and live in an unknown place cannot be done with courage alone. While the reward for this decision may be alluring, its consequences are nevertheless severe. The birthdays and graduations they missed, and will miss, are only the tip of the iceberg concerning the negative effects of their situation. And pictures of special moments back home do not do the experience justice.
But even with all these once in a lifetime moments passing by, they continue to endure and persevere. They continue to show their love by staying and working abroad and sending packages back home.
Knowing this, it is easy to see how privileged we are whose families are here in the country. We may not get the same amount of money compared to OFWs, but we have our own different ways of showing love to our family members.
Due to time constraints caused by their jobs and different time zones, our families abroad can only contact us for short intervals, sometimes on unholy hours of the night when they could sneak out from their work. For us back home with our families around us, we can see and talk with them anytime. A privilege that we should take full advantage of each day. Saying “good morning” in the day and eating at the table together are moments we should all cherish. Our families should not be taken for granted.
And while we cherish our families around us, we should not forget about our relatives abroad. Though a greeting can be as simple as it can be, a message that comes directly from us can be very special. When fatigue and low morale are like a ton of weight making our relatives abroad depressed and longing for home, a surprise greeting from us back home can cause the motivation or can be the inspiration they need to be able to push on.
To properly thank them for their sacrifices, we must show them that their efforts were not in vain. We should do well in school so as not to waste the money they are sending, stay out of trouble to ease their already tired minds, and send them a “good night” every once in a while to give them the energy they need to go on for another day away from their families.
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