Filling the Longing: Visiting my Father's Grave at Mabini Public Cemetery

Have you ever wondered why a dead person still feels alive in our hearts and mind?

Hello there community friends!

It's Papa's time! Early in the morning, we've prepared the things we need to bring because we're going to my Papa's sanctuary (grave). It's been a long time since our last visit due to the Earthquake and it's successive aftershocks. We've been advised to stay home as much as possible and avoid crowded places.

Transportation fee 30 pesos ($0.51)

On our way to the cemetery we ride a Yellow Bajaj. We call it "Umbak" in our place it's a multifunctional three-wheeler designed for both transportation and delivery.

My father's grave is far from the entrance so we have walk there. We've passed different designs and colors of grave house.I'm together with my mom, this serves as our quality time in the midst of busy days.

Tadaaa! This is now where my father rests in peace, away from the city noise and chaos. It's green, I remember that me and my mom painted it. My papa once mentioned that he wants our house to be painted as green, however, he won't be able to see it now. Well it's never too late so we painted his home with green. I think the reason why my papa likes green is because he was an Agriculturist back then.

We clean his home by mopping and wiping the tiles. I remove the spider webs and pick the grass in front. My mom arranged the flowers that we bought and lit the three candles.

We both stay for awhile chatting about the memories together with my father. I miss him so much, I was beside him when he died. I witnessed how he suffered because of his disease and it hurt me a lot too. I think the reason why I moved on was because I hated seeing him in pain always vomiting and crying. Although it's so hard for me to move forward without his presence, I handle it because I need to. He was my protector, the loving and kind father he was and will always will.

CHAPEL

The public cemetery has a small chapel. I've remembered they held masses here. This cemetery is very huge and clean. All Souls Day is approaching so they've prepared the area already.

Before we headed home, we lit some candles in the "Big Cross" where people utter their overall prayer for their loved ones who were buried here. Since the area is wide if you tend to forget the direction of the graveyard, you can light your candles here.

Why do we still visit them? Simply because we love them, they made a big impact in our lives. Remembering them makes us at ease and happy.

Do you still visit your dead loved ones? Feel free to comment.

That's all for today's blog. Take care always. Ajaaa! ^⁠_⁠^

All image are originally mine.
Lead photo edited in Canva.