Growing up, one of the christmas traditions I did not fully enjoy was recieving christmas presents from my godparents. I vaguely remember getting one present from each of my godparents that I know of, but that's about it.
Christmas in the province was worse. Since I did not have any godparents there, I would tag along my cousins and siblings when they go to their godparents and witness them get 20 pesos while I get a measly 5. The injustice!
And as I wrap presents for my godchildren I ask: "Where are my godparents?"
I know of three, as I think back in the day, godparents were limited into a manageable number unlike now where it is not uncommon for a child to have 10 or more, which at first glance is INSANE, but not after you realize that 80 percent of them vanishes within the first five years of the child's life, just like what has happened to me and my childrens' godparents.
Anyway, my godparents are: Rey De Vera, Dra. Nela Lee Millar and Mary Jane Madamba.
From what I know, Mr. De Vera is the brother of the president of Alpha Records Corporation, Buddy De Vera, at least according to my mother. I kinda remember going to his office once and getting a Superman shirt one Christmas day, but beyond that, NADA.
On the other hand, I did meet Dra. Nela Lee Millar as an adult. I brought my son suffering from some sort of skin allergy. She did not charge us for anything although she barely remembered who the hell I was or who my parents were. I am actually surprised that she basically took what I said on face value and proceeded to see my kid without charging me a penny. You gotta think that she has probably lost count of how many godchildren she has as she is a pediatrician after all.
I came to know of Mary Jane Madamba as a kid when my aunt would always point out to me that the lady who is in the original Knorr Sabaw ng Sinigang commercials was indeed my ninang. After a while I just got annoyed by this fact as everyone in my household would make sure to point this out no matter what I was doing.
I googled all of them but could not find out anything about Rey De Vera. Buddy de Vera is out there as the owner of Alpha Records but no information is out there about Rey. There is a listing of Dra. Millar at the Medical Center Paranaque and I do know this is accurate, so it is nice to know that she is out there.
On the other hand, Mary Jane Madamba is interesting because it shows that beside the knowledge I have that she was a commercial model, she apparently is the Miss Teen International First Runner Up for 1966. I am not sure if this is the same person but as I type this my mother is already asleep and I could not get a confirmation from her.
I am not going to second guess my parents' choice of godparents were but you just gotta admit that they were not good choices. According to the church, godparents should serve as second parents to their godchildren. How are they going to do it when they barely know you. One example of this is when movie stars being asked to be godparents to kids of regular folks, such as Joey De Leon, yes that Joey De Leon who is supposedly my sister's godfather.
MR. DE LEON MAY UTANG KA DAW SA UTOL KO
So what is it that I want? Well if they are childless millionaires looking for a sole hair to their riches, I would gladly step up to the plate and oblige. But really, all I want is acknowledgement perhaps, just to validate my christian existence.
Let this be a little reminder to all of us godparents to try not to forget our godchildren. Also, to parents out there, only ask people to be your children's godparents if you are certain that these people would figure prominently in your child's life, and of course, yung magandang mag pa aguinaldo!
Merry Christmas Folks!
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