i ate texas!

January 26 marked the first time in over two years that I boarded an airplane, destination: Houston. The reason: for an unfortunate event, the viewing and memorial service for my first cousin, Virma, who passed away January 20, of "natural causes." No one knows the real cause, but many suspect cancer, and she's suffered from different ailments all her 49 years. Some results are scheduled to arrive this week from tests she took before passing away.

Death is a weird thing. I saw Virma's body in the coffin, and for a long time, during the whole time we spent at the funeral home, I kept glancing over where she lay, and kept thinking that her chest would start to move up and down or that she'll eventually wake and get up. I can't remember the last time that I attended a funeral, especially for someone so close. Other relatives passed away over the years, but they were either abroad or in other states and I couldn't make it to say good-bye in person. I had to come to terms with the fact that I was experiencing this final good-bye to my cousin. I'm glad I went, to say bye, and to help comfort her siblings. Rest in Peace, Manang Virma.

The rest of the time was spent with meeting and re-meeting real blood relatives that I haven't seen since I was a child. My "skills" at keeping up with the different branches of the famiy tree don't compare to most others in our clan who know every single person and their life history. I constantly asked my parents who's who and how we're related, there's too many to remember, and some of these folks aren't those notorious stereotypical Giliginich "aunties" or "uncles," the folks you address as such, but aren't blood related to you.

Houston is a place where it takes about 30-45 minutes to get to anywhere, and that's on the highways! Folks I talked to weren't kidding when they said that the city is spread out. We arrived at Hobby Airport, at the south end, and the hotel where my parents stayed at was all the way on the northern side of the city, because it's closer to where my cousin and her family live. The hotel/motel was Comfort Suites, and they provided continental breakfast that included a make-your-own texas-shaped waffle!

On Saturday, it rained. The manly-man rain that lasted for hours excited me. Again, that's real rain, not like the wimpy ones out here in the Bay Area. However, some of our plans to go sightseeing at several different venues changed slightly, so that the places we would visited included a roof. Also, driving in such rain proved a little difficult at times; the rain just fell so hard, and we drove all over the place.

I called my former marathon runningmate and former Houston resident, Hennifer, to ask for "what's there to do in Houston," and she suggested to visit "The Galleria," an indoor mall with an ice rink and higher-end shops. I wasn't in a shopping mood, but wanted to see the place anyhow. Then for dinner, we scarfed down tons of food at a Chinese Buffet. The food in Houston's a little cheaper than in the Bay Area, and I was told that tax is only something like 2%, amazing!

I never thought that I'd make my way to Texas, since I have superficial issues with a couple of people who came from that state. Texans do have so much pride in their state; a lot of SUVS have those metal Texas-shaped decorations on the back. I mean you don't see California-shaped, or New York-shaped metal things on cars. I wonder if I'll ever go back. My father wants to buy land down there to start up a farm. We'll see about that.