Day of the dead
If I were still with my previous job I would be scouring the different cemeteries across the metro. The usual stories would include rates for cleaning services and lighting on the set holidays for November. Also the prices of flowers and the hardships of those making candles. But with or without this job it is a totally different year. With the mandate to close all the cemeteries to the threat of the pandemic, families have been searching for ways to honor the dead.
I am not scared of seeing corpses, even watching autopsies. Somehow I feel that this is all part of life and is nothing to be afraid of. But as time progresses there has been a stigma when it comes to the day of the dead. Eerie stories and hair-raising anecdotes get passed on from generation to generation, instilling fear in the young. I guess that is why Halloween in some parts of the world is the most-celebrated occasion. Apart from the candies that they get from trick-or-treating, the fear factor seem to be a selling point.
Now that we are facing a pandemic, those relying on the yearly visitors would have to think of a different alternative on how to come up with money and take advantage of the season. It may sound weird, but Filipino ingenuity always gets people by despite the health crisis we are facing.
A lot of people have been lost because of COVID. They died unexpectedly and too early that most of us were not able to prepare for it. Now that we’ve reached the first days of November I wonder how it feels for family members who lost their loved ones to COVID if they can still do the traditions and customs for the day of the dead.
As the quarantine drags on, we continue to long for the promised vaccine that will somehow set us free. It’s sad to note that we are now approaching the end of the year but it seems like going back to normal isn’t going to happen soon. There is too much delay and too much talk from the administration. They can’t even sort out other issues apart from COVID, how much more if they are tasked to end this menace.
There are so many things I will miss doing this year. I hope it would just be for this year. The virus has robbed us not just of months to enjoy summer but days and moments that could have been enjoyed in the great outdoors.
Would we wait for more people to die before taking concrete action to address this pandemic? I don’t know, I’m not the one busy judging a beauty pageant. Or being at a tourist spot or whatever. Hope is fading. And the approaching Christmas seems dark as well. Maybe not as dark as the day of the dead, but it wouldn’t be as bright as it used to be. That’s another moment right there waiting to be robbed.
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