Under normal conditions, we should be trooping to cemeteries again for All Saints’/Souls’ Day, to spruce up the resting place of those who had gone ahead of us. With paint and brush, soil and fresh grass, broom, and spade, we clean the square, tomb, or mausoleum of the departed, inspired by loving thoughts of their memory. We bring and arrange flowers, and see to it that the candles are burning. We bear the heat of the scorching sun or suffer the hassle of strong rain to watch over the graves of our loved ones, unless we are in the safety of a mausoleum.
It is in times like this that we also recall the gentle reproof or admonition of our parents. We search ourselves and ask whether we had done them right. In lonely moments when there is no one to confide our deep hurts to, that is when we miss and remember friends who are no longer around. We are touched when we see old, familiar places that remind us of unforgettable episodes in our life.
In the aftermath of All Saints’ Day, activities will resume and life will go on, until one reaches the end of one’s road, where one shall also join his or her ancestors and predecessors in God’s sacred acre, where His children take their repose.
Gerry T. Maglaya, retired government official and lawyer