Day in the life of a Filipina Nurse Practitioner

Filipina Nurse Practitioner Diaries: Inspire Authentic Living

Hi everyone. 🤍

This holiday season feels different—in the quietest, most meaningful way.

As a healthcare provider, I’ve spent many holidays working, celebrating from afar, and missing my family while caring for others. San Francisco has been home for a while now, but Christmas here has often meant video calls, quick meals after shifts, and a familiar ache of distance.

But this year—2025—something changed.

For the first time, my mom and my brother came to visit me to celebrate Christmas here in San Francisco. That alone felt like a gift I didn’t know I needed so deeply.

I’m still working this week, and I’ll be honest—I felt a little ashamed that I didn’t have anything grand prepared for Christmas Eve. No elaborate menu. No long planning. No big Filipino party energy—the kind filled with laughter, karaoke, too much food, and everyone talking at once.

Instead, something beautiful happened.

My French boyfriend quietly came to the rescue.

When I came home, there was a simple dinner spread—thoughtful, intentional, and filled with French goods. Nothing extravagant, but everything chosen with care. It was a surprise, and somehow, exactly what this moment in my life needed.

That night, my mom and brother tried foie gras du canard for the very first time. Watching their reactions—curious, hesitant, then pleasantly surprised—was priceless. We shared cured ham from Bayonne, dry sausages from Lyon, Swiss cheese, chorizo, crusty bread, and small bites meant to be savored, not rushed.

So different from the big, loud Filipino celebrations I grew up with.

And yet—so perfect.

We made mashed potatoes. Corned beef simmered for hours. My mom and brother prayed together in the kitchen while food cooked slowly on the stove. There were pauses, laughter, small misunderstandings, explanations of flavors, stories about where food comes from, and moments of silence that felt full instead of empty.

At one point, we joked about how “illegal” foie gras is in California, talked about ethics, tradition, and how food means something different in every culture. It reminded me how layered life is—how love, values, culture, and compromise can all exist at the same table.

This Christmas Eve wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t perfect.
It wasn’t planned.

But it was authentic.

As a Filipina nurse practitioner, I spend so much of my life giving—at work, to patients, to systems that rarely slow down. This season reminded me that it’s okay to receive, to simplify, and to let joy look different than it used to.

Sometimes, authentic living doesn’t mean recreating what we once had.
Sometimes it means honoring where we are now.

This year, Christmas looked like a quiet San Francisco evening, a small dinner table, cultural blending, love in many languages, and gratitude for the people sitting right in front of me.

And honestly?
That was more than enough.

Tomorrow, we’ll bring in a little more Filipino food.
But tonight, we celebrated simply.
Together.

And that’s the kind of holiday memory I’ll carry with me—long after the season ends. 🎄✨