Celebrating Life.. and then Death

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day for me. But just how eventful, I had no idea..

Celebrating Life…

The day started out fine. I woke up waaay late. I was most surprised when I opened my eyes and saw the time on my cellphone–11:34 AM. And I was supposed to meet Ate Rose at 10:00 AM. Good thing she went to her dentist first where there was a long queue so she was not affected by my mishap. So it all boiled down to me just having a rare lazy Sunday morning and a night of long, good sleep. Yeah!

So anywho, lolled around a bit more before finally taking a long, cold bath. Met up with Mich afterward and we went to Robert’s together. It was Bob’s parents’ anniversary and he served us both some yummy chocolate cake. Yey! I had to borrow Yel’s charger and charge up my camera’s battery there since ever forgetful, my battery was left drained from our trip to Kamay ni Hesus a coupla weeks back (my bad, I know!). Fortunately the battery was sufficiently charged up when Ate Rose met us up. And so we commenced with the shoot as planned. Here are some of our outputs (please click on the photo to view the whole album):

We needed a free public location with plenty of natural light and pretty (or at least not-so-bad) scenery and we had already done a shoot in Capitolio. Our only choice then was PPA (Philippine Ports Authority) Park . A policeman (or guard?) stopped by while we were shooting and for a moment I thought would reprimand us. But it turned it he just wanted a closer view of our pretty model and asked us if she was an artista or something. Haha. All in all we had fun shooting and laughing even as the sun beat down us.

…and then Death.

I went to SM after the shoot to grab a bite and run an errand for my cousin. While browsing some stuff at Watson’s, Mama called and told me that Lola (my paternal grandmother) was rushed to the hospital. So I planned to go straight to the hospital after paying for the items I was looking for. I remember thinking over and over while driving, Lola please wait for me. But while still on the road, Mama again called, this time with the heart-breaking news that Lola has passed away. It was so quick. I don’t know how I managed to drive at top speed with tears blurring my vision every few seconds, but somehow I did even if I knew I was too late. I picked Mama up at the hospital and we proceeded to Taal to pick out Lola’s funeral dress. We chose a beautiful Imelda-style beaded dress fit for a noble lady, and then brought it to the funeraria for Lola to be dressed for the last time.

We waited there while she was cleaned, embalmed, dressed and the finally laid out in her casket. She looked so frail and tiny but the funeraria people did a good  job and she looked but peacefully and prettily sleeping. And though we are much saddened by her death, I’m glad at least she is now in perfect peace with the Lord.

I feel really sorry for my aunts and uncles in Italy, especially for Ninang Thelma. She was all alone in their apartment when she was called with the news and it just shattered her. She could not stop crying. They would be coming home this weekend. It would be a reunion, but one of the most bitter kind being united once again by death.

Funny thing about Death, it sometimes holds more power than Life. The way it could reunite friends and families when happiness and health could not. The way it could galvanize people to action and reinforce vows and promises. It’s ironic that the promises most reverently kept are those made to dead people, while those most easily broken are those to the living who are with us. It is a testament to the way most people take Life for granted. A sad fact, but a fact nonetheless.