My ninang was Peter Pan

One of the reasons I sometimes still feel like a kid at my age is because I grew up with Auntie Kris -- my ninang who was, to me, like Peter Pan. And my cousins, siblings and I were her Lost Boys (she actually made us dress up as Indians once when we were kids). Now that she's left us, I just want to thank her for:

Making us love music enough for us to enjoy singing lazy summer afternoons away as she and Uncle Mar played the guitar for us. We will never forget the silly and yet catchy songs from the 60s, nor the witty and brilliant children's songs she and Uncle Mar composed.

The Christmases and New Years that were filled with laughter from the games she created so us kids won't get bored while waiting for the clock to strike 12. Although my sister and I took over the game-planning a long time ago, she was the one who still thought of what we should all wear during New Year's Eve (e.g. what color to wear, which hat to put on, etc.).

Inspiring us to dress-up our house during the holidays --- instilling in us the idea that a house can never be too Christmas-y enough for our whole family.

Encouraging us to love books by letting us browse through the tons of books she used to bring home from work (she worked for a publisher and a bookstore years ago).

Showing us how important it is to protect and be there for the people you love.

Letting us be adventurous in the food that we eat. I will never forget the chinese sunflower seeds she made me get addicted to last year.

Now that Auntie Kris is gone, I'd like to think that she simply went back to the real Neverland, the place where people never grow old. Some of us call that place "heaven".