Relationships
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUBJECTS AND FREEPIK (BACKGROUNDS).Size Doesn’t Matter
by Monica B. Savellano
It does not matter if you come
from a small or big family;
what’s important is your love
for one another. CNN reporter
Mitzi Borromeo shares what
it’s like to have a small nuclear
family—as well as a huge
extended one.
What was your
relationship with your
brother like growing up,
and how has it evolved?
My brother RJ is 11 years
older than me. Our sister in
between, who passed away,
was six years older. My sister
found me to be quite a pest and
didn’t want me following her
around or hanging out with
her and her friends, so I often
ended up tagging along with my
brother, our male cousins, and
sometimes his barkada when
they came over to the house. I
eventually lived with our mom
in the US while my brother and
sister stayed here with our dad
(we didn’t realize then, nor
were we told, that they were
going through a separation).
These days my brother and I
have different schedules so we
don’t get to see each other much
except at family gatherings.
Fortunately we’re neighbors,
so we can rely on each other for
domestic support—like sharing
house help, borrowing food
or ingredients when one of us
runs out, watching over his
daughter, and leaving my dog
with his help to watch while
I’m at work. Ever since we were
kids, we were not the type to
confide in each other, and it’s
pretty much the same today.
But no matter what, we know
for sure that we’ve always got
each other’s back.How do
you
celebrate
family
occasions?
Our family
occasions
always involve
hearty meals,
especially with
so many foodies
in the family.
We usually go
to the house
of my aunt(our mom’s sister, who’s like
our second mother) in Antipolo
with our cousin (aunt’s son)
and his family and hang
around the dining table most
of the day catching up on each
other’s lives, making chismis,
exchanging all sorts of stories,
playing with the kids. At least
once a year,
RJ and his
daughter andI take a trip out of town for
some serious family bonding.How do you bond?
Apart from bonding over
meals, RJ and I bond when
reminiscing about our
parents (who have also
since passed away), sister,
times together as a family
way back in the day. We
bond most especially over
his only child, Sammi, who
is like a daughter to me.
RJ and his wife separated
when she was a toddler, so
other family members and
I took an especially active
role in helping to raise her.
We definitely have much
more bonding time when we
travel out of town, where we
can explore new places, or
rediscover old ones together,
and just be our crazy selves.What do you wish
people would know
about having a small
family?
I don’t really have anything
profound to say about a small
family because I’ve always felt
that I have a huge family with
relatives and friends who
make up my extended family.
I treasure my immediate
nuclear family deeply but
I also hold my extended
family in the highest regard.
I have different relationships
with each of them, so many
precious moments and
meaningful experiences that
have made me the person I
am today. At the end of the
day, no matter what size your
family is, families are
about love.Mitzi (seated), her brother, and
niece are part of a bigger family
circle filled with supportive relatives.