Unusual Channel
The least I can do
(Editor's note: This column would have come out last Wednesday, November 1)
Today, we celebrate All Saints Day. As a Catholic, we pray and honor our beloved saints through prayer offerings and petitions. However, traditionally this is the day we go to the cemetery and honor our dead loved ones too. Filipinos are devoted to their dead loved ones to the point that preparations for this special holiday is done even a month before. Of course, there are those who cram just two days or a day before the date. All Saints Day and All Souls Day is such a big deal to us Filipinos. A week or even a month before this occasion, we have the cemeteries cleaned and ready for visitors. I remember when I was in Manila a few years back, I have this friend and her family prepared a menu just for their family to enjoy or partake during this holiday. They really go through the works to make it special because it is also a day for family reunions and friends who spend time with each other and honor the dead as well. I remember also that during the eve of the occasion, traffic was really bad. Not to mention there are places like restaurants, bars and malls that celebrate Halloween and have their own Halloween gimmicks and these all add up to the already mounting traffic jams all over Metro Manila. When my family and I (Philippe and our children) moved back five years ago here in Iloilo, I also experienced the same traffic jam during this occasion. What was different here compared to Manila then, was there were no alternative routes so it was a bad jam that on the way to the cemetery (Christ the King), we wanted to "about face" and forget about it. Oh well, of course we didn't do that. We proceeded because it was my late father we came to visit.
It's been six years since my father died and it was the only special day, I can really pay a visit and light candles for him. Of course, I can visit some other days but the holiday makes it more special to do so. By the way, the price of flowers and candles shoots up like rockets in full turbo blast! Business is really great during these times too. Anyway, going back to my father... it is nice to visit, pay my respects, bring flowers and light a candle for my Papa on this occasion. It is also the day I am able to reminisce the days when he was still alive and remember how he was like when he would tell his jokes, how he was with his friends, with my mother and with us. He was a good father. I have always been very proud of him. Though he was not the demonstrative type, we were always assured of his love for us. I know I wasn't a good daughter then (pasaway to the max), but he was always the understanding and patient father that I known him to be. He was a good husband to my mother also. I saw how he cared for Mama. I remembered them then holding hands and very caring to each other when I was growing up. Even as a teenager and when I was working already and would travel back and forth from Manila to Iloilo, I would see them very sweet to each other. My mother would cook something special for him and he would return it with a loving kiss. He was a good provider. We were not rich but we lived comfortably. He sent us to the best schools in Manila. If he is not out of town because of his work, he would even bring us to school and fetch us after school. He would be waiting patiently for us in his car and the only thing he would ask us to do for him is to give him a big KISS! I have a lot of memories about my father but there is one particular memory of him that I cherish the most.
I remember I was only a grader when Papa went home one night and he told us he bought a new car. It was a big car (vintage it is called these days) and he was so proud of it with the way he talked about it to us. We were in our jammies already and ready to hit the slumber world but he suddenly said, "Let's all go for a drive!" We didn't have time to change for he was so excited, it was overwhelming for us too. He just told us to grab our sweaters, and so, off we go! For a while there, we were just going around Quezon City and then we realized we were in a highway (North Diversion Road). And then he announced, "We are going to Baguio"! All went, "What?" and then, "Yeheeeyy!" I knew for sure he was serious about it, so Baguio off we went! It was our first time to go to Baguio and of course, it was so exciting (we were in our jammies, by the way) that we were all shouting and singing for joy except my mother. She started praying the rosary. That was not bad of course; it was her nature to do that especially if Papa is off to an assignment far from us. Anyway, we slept in the car all the way to Baguio, zigzag or no zigzag. When we awoke, it was really cold we knew we were already in Baguio. We spent the whole day strolling, we went horseback riding, boating, biking, bought souvenirs, of course, we had to eat some time so we had fresh vegetables, fruits, steaks, strawberries (hmmm... yummy!). I know we all had a wonderful time and I remember Papa's face then. He was so happy to see us so excited and thrilled by his gesture. I will never forget that experience for as long as I live. I will never forget how Papa loved us so much. And the least thing I can do for him is pay my deepest respect by visiting him at the cemetery. A week ago, I had a dream about my Papa. It was a good dream for he was smiling at me and told me he is okay and happy wherever he is right now. It was his birthday last October 22nd and I believe it was his way of saying "thank you" for the prayers we offered in his behalf. I will always keep my fond memories of Papa. For those whose fathers are still alive, this is your chance to spend some time with them. Never waste a time without saying you love them.
If there is something I regretted not doing when my Papa was still alive... it was not being able to say "I love you"... I love my father very much, but I never really had the chance to tell him that. Perhaps, it was not something I remembered being said then within our home not for lack of it but perhaps, it was not something that we got used to telling each other not until now that we are all grown up. It is never too late... now is your chance...
"When my tired legs do not allow me to walk... give me your hand... the same way I did when you gave your first steps."
(For your kind comments or just a simple hi, please email me at rbuy1028@gmail.com)