Project Family Newsletter

A project I couldn’t have done without help from, who else but family. I thank most especially my dear cousin Jhing for helping me make this concept a reality.

Our first issue, covering January to March 2006, has two pages printed back to back. What’s in it:

~ The love story of my lolo and lola
~ A contest asking family members to help name the newsletter
~ Our family tree
~ A write-up from the editor (cough, cough, ehem, ehem)

This is only for family on my mom’s side, the Dioquinos. I would love to do another run for my dad’s side too, but it’s a little more complicated. Baby steps first, right? There are more from my mom’s family in Bacolod and Negros Occidental where we live so it’s a lot easier to organize this. Once I get this to skyrocket, maybe I can start something for the Vallejera’s as well.

Why a newsletter? My editorial might answer your question:

Lo and Behold, Published At Last!
Editor’s Note, Dioquino-Decierto Family Newsletter
Vol. 1 Issue 1, January to March 2006

Finally, a maiden issue!

I’d been pondering the idea of a family newsletter for quite some time. Way back, in fact, before my 2003 wedding. In between all the bride-zilla brouhaha, I’d find myself thinking about how confusing it must be for the clan to keep up with everybody else’s unions and new additions. In a family as big as ours, why, my name could suddenly pop up in a conversation and there’d bound to be some husband of a cousin’s niece (whatever that means) innocently exclaim “May Castro, who?” Can’t blame the poor chap, now can we? I’d probably say the same thing.

So dum dee dum dee dee, family newsletter. Good idea, now what? For starters, what message could I possibly relay to the family besides my change of status? Drum rolls and mental sparks later, this idea somehow wormed its way into small talk Jhingle (Davila) and I were having over coffee one September afternoon in 2004. She loved the concept! She also threw in some of her own ideas. Now we needed reinforcement. Lucky for us, it came in the form of overly excited cousins: enter Sha-Sha (San Jose), Davila siblings Garp and Koy-Koy, and Matet (Uberas). The family newsletter was official.

Planning this first issue was fun. While brainstorming for articles and features, the girls sensationalized Family Newsletter into tabloid stardom. Gossip columns! Blind items! Titillating news!

Mind you, all these were demanded in between fits of laughter. However, authority (that would be me) didn't hear whatever else they wanted because their horrendous roster of ideas were scrapped, pronto, amidst their mocked protests.

Overly excited, did I say? I take it back. I later realized my team’s pledged dedication ended the minute assignments were doled out. Our follow up meetings were continuations of the last laughing fest. And adorable as these cousins are, they had absolutely no regard for deadlines. Couldn’t authority do anything about it? ‘Fraid not. Authority (er, me again) was waddling in her own sorry state of disarray and even had trouble remembering her own commitments and deadlines.

And so Project Family Newsletter was set aside for later. Much, much later. But every time I remembered it, I’d feel the pressing need to see it through its first print. Exactly one year and six months has passed since my first official meeting with the girls and I am proud of their effort and this first outcome.

This newsletter is meant to be a vehicle of good news and heartfelt features about the Dioquinos and the families that are part of it. We’re a big clan, yes, but we were once tight knit. In the years of growing up, growing old and moving on to live in different parts of the country and the world, it’s nice to look back at our roots. Big as the clan already is, it’s still growing and branching out into new generations. Keeping in touch and knowing who’s who is certainly a challenge, don’t you think? Our family newsletter can address the need for updating everyone about our lives minus the details we’d rather not share. It’s high time we bridge our families.

We hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed preparing it for the family!

May

Care to share your thoughts ?