Memories of Christmases Past inevitably bring out the child in everyone. Moreso, in the Megastar.

When she was this high, Shawie and her yaya used to sneak out of her parents' Dasmarinas home, for an after-school treat to ice cream and fun at the then burgeoning Makati Commercial (now Ayala) Center. She remembers having "chocolate parfait" in the old ice cream house and visiting the National Bookstore in the "first Quad." Also located in the shopping center, just a short stroll from Quad, was "the Christmas Carnival," which used to stand on the same lot that is now occupied by Dusit Hotel.

As a kid, she used to watch in awe as expert gift-wrappers strutted their stuff at the Makati Supermart. She recalls buying inexpensive toys for her cousins and "ending up paying more for the gift-wrapping at the old Makati Supermart." Hah!

And, like anyone who grew up in the early '70s, the holiday season was somehow made more magical by the Christmas displays at the C.O.D. department store in Cubao. It was a heartfelt tradition among Martial Law babies - to gaze starry-eyed at the Nativity scene whose figures moved in step with the Yuletide carols.

Shawie relates that Mommy Elaine Cuneta used to take her and big brother Chet to the C.O.D. at night. "We were in our long, white pajamas and we'd just stay inside the car and watch..."

Christmases for Shawie were also a time for family reunions. As a child, she used to spend the holiday season at her Lolo and Lola's, her mom's parents' home on Greystone St., White Plains, Quezon City, for a Noche Buena of sweet hamon and hot Spanish chocolate. For Media Noche, she remembers celebrating and welcoming each New Year with fireworks in the garden of her Lolo and Lola's home in Greystone.

`Tis the season for the family, after all.

Her last Christmas was, in true Megastar fashion, incredibly hectic - one she spent in two continents and two time zones.

Christmas '97 was supposed to be especially memorable, being timed with her year-long vacation from showbiz.

(To digress a bit: As every card-carrying Sharonian would know, the Megastar took a break from showbiz last year to keep house for hubby Atty. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan who took up his masters' degree in Public Administration at Harvard, in Boston, Massachusetts. Sharon also took the opportunity, to go back to school during that year-long break. Between a world concert tour and her home chores, Shawie found the time to enroll as a freshman at the Boston College. Just a few units shy of finishing her first year in college, Shawie took up Writing, Math and Psychology on the first term, and Literary Works on the second term. For the Literature course, her favorite, she clinched a grade of A.)

Back to Christmas with the Pangilinans in Boston. Last year, the Pangilinans set up their own Christmas tree in their cozy Boston home; they video-taped the first snowflakes that fell in their backyard; and KC, a member of the national team, experienced ice-skating in a real winter wonderland.

Although that would have been the first White Christmas for Shawie, hubby Francis, daughter KC and Yaya Luring, the Pangilinans of Boston decided to plane in at the height of the Yuletide revelry to be with their family in Manila. Truth to tell, being at the airport in the middle of the holiday rush is not for the faint-hearted. Aside from all that packing and unpacking, the Pangilinans also had to contend with the usual traveler's woes: jet-lag.

Sharon, however, just shrugged off the stress, just to be surrounded by family on this holiest of seasons.

"Although we all got sick in Manila (didn't everyone?)," Christmas was merry and bright. (In fact, when she got back to Boston on the 4th of January, soon after having Media Noche in Manila, she was still nursing a cold and a cough.)

Sharon recalls that she felt so bad that she "couldn't get up until the evening of Christmas!" Despite the physical exhaustion. "Christmas Eve was fun - my cousins and Titas and Titos were all in Dasma. So kahit na I had the flu, walang paki!"

Still her regular Christmas routine had to be postponed. "I missed shopping and going through my big Christmas preparation rituals. Francis had exams and papers to turn in before we left for Manila, and we were all panicking kasi there was so much left to do! Plus - it was the season! Ang dami tuloy naming hindi nabigyan ng regalo (pati Kuya at Ate at Mommy at Daddy ko). Ayoko kasing minamadali! So utang muna and I'll send them my gifts. I can't believe I didn't have time for them! Well, I guess I should take comfort in the fact that I didn't have time for myself either!"

That was a first for Sharon who loves going through her Christmas list - buying the gifts, wrapping them and writing on the cards - personally individually. It must be because of all the gift-wrapping demos she watched as a kid in Makati Supermart.

Her future Christmases, needless to say, will always be merry and bright. Especially after Boston. The Boston episode has taught Sharon precious lessons on life and love.

"I have become more relaxed, and more grateful for all the little (and big) things I believe I took for granted for about... two decades?" Shawie relates how she has changed since the Boston interlude.

"Living is so different from just existing. Living is being able to balance work and play. I now realize that for many years, for some reason I felt that it was almost a 'sin' to take a break every so often."

Close friends, in the past, often chided the Megastar for being a workaholic - for not taking time to stop and smell the flowers.

"Work and home were my reasons for being. 'Home,' even being my sanctuary and my 'happiest place,' became a 'hotel' where I could spend some time with my daughter, watch TV, walk around in my jammies, and sleep. Then I'd travel to another point, which was work wherever it was scheduled that day. Then back. Pagod na pala ako ng maraming taon before I noticed."

Boston has taught her to slowly shift from the fast lane to a more laid-back, leisurely pace. "One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't realize it sooner. I now feel that it took away so much from me. I was able to spend just enough time with KC, but of course not as much as I would have wanted. What I lost was time for myself. I tried to look out for everyone and everything else around me, then I realized no one was really looking after me."

This was the most precious lesson culled from her Boston sojourn. "Now I'm much happier than I've ever been in my whole life. Boston has been a very special gift, a real blessing. I 'found' myself, paid a little more attention to the little girl in me, and the mom, and the wife, just the person. I got to the bottom of my heart of hearts and am never letting go again."

In the tranquility of Boston, she sometimes yearned for the frenetic pace of life in Manila.

"Of course I missed the work. Not necessarily the load, but the work, the 'families' I've made on movie sets and on The Sharon Cuneta Show (TSCS). My fans whom I saw regularly because they visited me everywhere. My friends. My cousins. My Kuya Chet and his family. My Dad and Mom. Even my dogs!"

But what she did not miss are the low points of life in Mega- Manila. "The traffic, the pollution, the intrigues, and the kind of people I have had to deal with that I wish I didn't," Sharon enumerates.

On a nostalgia trip, Miss Mega recites a stream-of-consciousness litany of reasons why she longs for her life in Boston: "The peace and quiet. The clean air, the very good highways and 'lawful' driving. The birds chirping in the morning. Picnicking and barbecuing in the park. Boston College. The Harvard family get-togethers. The new friends I made. Being normal. Going to the grocery, the bookstore. Walking down the street looking as 'unglamorous' as I could and not caring at all. Our little lovely home. Picking KC up from school (the Beaver Country Day School, which is only ten minutes away from our home) sometimes. (Finally) driving a car! Our peaceful, wonderful church. Laughing with Kiko, KC and Yaya. All the home shows and talk shows and movies on TV!"

Her life will never be the same after Boston. As the song goes, she has looked at clouds from both sides now - she has rediscovered "the little girl within and tasted the sweet simplicity of life."

After Boston, even everyday occasions become a cause for celebration. Everyday is a holiday. For Christmas, if celebrated with the purest of hearts, becomes a magical, everyday event - as bright and fireworks in the garden" of her Lolo and Lola's house in Greystone, each dazzling sparkle and glitter signaling hope and promise.