Halloween musings

Something Like Life
BusinessMirror, Oct. 31, 2008

CALL me strange but, for some inexplicable reason, I’ve never been afraid of the dead. Even when I was a toddler, I was not one to scream when brought to wakes, nor did I shirk away from looking into open caskets where a dead lola or some other close relative would be lying within. “She’s in heaven,” my Mama or Pop would whisper in my ear, which to me meant our relative was probably playing tag with Papa Jesus up in the clouds, which sure looked like cotton candy from where I was standing then.

When we would go to the La Loma Catholic Cemetery usually during the evening of October 29 or 30, I would often skip along the narrow and dark paths going to the puntod of Mama’s dead relatives. (Pop’s dead were buried in his province.)

Fortunately, I never saw any dead people walking about, although they say that children are the most lapitin by still earth-bound spirits. I actually felt a sense of calm and wonderment while walking among those dirty white tombs. Despite being a rather mischievous child, I grew up respecting the dead. Then as I do now, I would excuse myself aloud if I needed to step on some tombs to get to our dead relatives, just so as not to offend the residents within. I sure didn’t want any hand reaching out from the grave to yank my feet. (Click here for the rest. Photo from BusinessMirror)