Life's a Party

My parents met at a party. My brother is a DJ. I was born after my parents came home from a party. My life is one giant party.

There was some weird thing people used to say about my grandmother like she never left the house in the Philippines but yet she immigrated to America. As much as she was a home body here as well, she either had the party brought to her or she was going to attend a party. She would attract a lot of people because people loved her and she had a lot of wisdom to give. The party would evolve around my grandmother for some moments.

As I am gathering my thoughts and information on the SF Bay Area DJ scene for a later post, I am flooded with memories on how I LIVED things around here. Everything was a social event growing up. My fondest memory was when my Aunt Dorothy would say “wow, social studies” when we would get ready to jump into the car to gather for another family function and we wore our finest.

The party and formal functions were a way of life growing up. With so much family and people around, there was a birthday or a life event somewhere to be celebrated by someone. The lockdowns did a drastic change in my family way of life. I used to see my extended family sometimes more than once a month and sometimes folks would drop by because “we were in the neighborhood.” Because my grandparents lived with me, there was always someone that sought their wisdom or just came to visit.

I always had people around me. As much as I am an introvert now, you can get the right people around me and I can talk all day. Other times, even with my own family, I can still be quiet in the corner and observe more. Partying was a way of life. It was a part of our lifestyle in the Bay Area growing up. My dad always knew someone that threw a party for whatever reason and someone threw a party for whatever reason.

My family has slowly evolved back to the way things were before covid 1984, socially. There is always something to get dressed up for and get some of my nicest attire on. Sometimes it’s just hanging out but other times it can be a the big extravagant parties. No matter the case, there is at least a party every month. My parents are sometimes out of the house multiple days a week because there is some party, some dinner or lunch with friends, or some outing that they know. There are even times when there is a party that comes up out of the blue and I have to get dressed and go — without notice.

So life’s a party. There was no mistake when I named myself discodaphne. That is all.