happy halloween.

to me, though, this year’s todos los santos is more poignant than just halloween, a festivity i never grew up with, and something that to this day, i don’t understand the meaning of and hence feel no real connection to. but all souls’ day brings back lots of memories. because my parents hail from different provinces, we used to alternately head to either nueva ecija, where my mom’s folks are from, or pampanga, where my dad’s clan are. we’d join the heavy traffic along south and north expressway, and endure a long, hot drive from laguna, and join the rest of our relatives for a mini-reunion of sorts.

and then the rituals begin. some folks are sent to clean and repaint the family tombstones. some are tasked to arrange gladioli and baby’s breath into large jars. perhaps some orchids and mums if it has been a good year. oh and of course, the candles. large, colorful, elaborately carved designs, which will later transform into balls of wax children will collect to pass time at the cemetery.

these memories are quite distant now, though. living abroad for the last 7 years, i can’t remember the last time i made the nov 1. trek to the cemeteries. but it’s not like i felt i was missing something. not at all… until now.

i’m thinking of you, dad+. every single day.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at and is filed under family, i, me, and myself. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.