My siblings and I went to the cemetery on November 1, All Saints’ Day. Now I’ve always found that weird that in the Philippines, people are “obliged” to go visit the dead on November 1 when in fact the actual day for the dead, All Souls’ Day, is on November 2. The government actually considered November 1 as the national holiday to visit the dead, and not November 2. It’s really weird.
Can anyone explain this to me please?
Anyway, so the three of us (my older brother, my younger sister and myself) went for our traditional trip to the cemetery, minus the parentals (they’re currently in Leyte, mind you). Of course the trip wouldn’t be traditional if we don’t have the traditional stuff on hand. Candle, CHECK. Flowers, CHECK. (binarat si ate vendor, tinipid sa bayad. Oh well papel, styro bowl naman kasi ang “vase” nila eh. Cheap.) Of course a trip to the cemetery wouldn’t be complete with Mojos. Like seriously, Mojos and thin crust pizza. Yumm.
We went to visit our grandfather’s grave, did some cleaning, paid our respects, and prayed the rosary (big achievement! And they had me, of all people, do the lead. An absolute rare occurrence.). It was lunch. It was sunny, and our grandfather couldn’t have chosen a better location to be buried. We were beside a big tree, shaded, and we got comfortable sitting on the grass. On top of grandpa’s grave. Parang picnic lang.
We had so much time on our hands (and we were bored), so my brother suddenly started with a topic of discussion: our Top Worst Things You’d Write/Put on a Lapida. Now for everyone who’s curious, “lapida” is the Filipino word for “gravestone”. We had so much fun talking about it that we even called our cousins (who were at a different cemetery at that time) to join in on the discussion. Parang kumbaga sa radio talk show, we’d be on phone patch with callers for the discussion. In this case, we were the ones doing the calling. Parang tanga lang.
We suspect that the other grave-goers around us enjoyed the impromptu radio talk show. We heard them laughing. Probably at us but we don’t really care. We’re awesome like that.
And so here goes our TOP TEN WORST THINGS YOU’D WRITE/PUT ON A LAPIDA:
- “Made in China” (seen below the lapida) or stating wherever country the lapida was sourced or made from. We can imagine conyo rich people having their lapida with the statement “Made in Italy” or “Made in UK”. For more nationalistic pride, “Made in the Philippines”.
- “CDR-King” – gawang CDR-King ang lapida.
- “B.R.B.” (“Be Right Back”) instead of “R.I.P.” (“Rest in Peace”). Parang zombie lang ang peg.
- “You’re next.”
- “Just resting. Will drop by your place later.” – Hahaha drop by talaga oh.
- “09*********. Call me maybe.”
- “Follow me on Twitter: @imdeadgorgeous”
- Facebook Timeline (Imagine that.)
- “Died _______. We just hope he stays that way.”
and the one that caps up our list:
10. “Donated by: __________”
iampaolocruz 