…aha, aha, I like it! Aha, aha.
Each year it seems like the cemetery gets less and less crowded compared to the previous one on November 1. That’s when we visit our dead at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina.
I remember how less commercialized it was back then. Outside the gates of the park they would put up small kiosks to sell cold drinks and some snacks. I remember when Shakey’s Pizza first put up a stall that sold slices of pizza. Through the years that small stall would become bigger and bigger until they put up a tent beside it to accommodate several tables and chairs and whole families could order whole pizzas and enjoy them right there. Now there’s also Jollibee; and just like Shakey’s, they offer free delivery right to your loved one’s gravesite.
We’d always leave the house around 9am, be at the park by 10am (we’d always park at the Loyola House of Studies then walk down the hill) and stay there until about 11:30am. Then we’d always have lunch out, because that’s the only time besides Christmas and New Year that the whole family gets together again.
Ever since 1982 when we had the first death in the family (my then 4-yr old brother died), I never missed going to the cemetery. That is, until today. I chose not to join them and just stay home and recuperate. A little after lunch my mom texted me: What do you want from Shakey’s? Garlic and cheese thin crust pizza, I answered.
Nothing like a little anti-aswang pizza to complete my November 1 experience.
1 comment:
I remember after singing for scheduled masses at Trinity Chapel inside Loyola, we always hang around the area and binge for food. Isang malaking tiangge ang Loyola pag undas! Then we make fun of the "panawagan" sounds, everytime there is someone na mawawala.
Those were the days when were still living in Barangka...
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