Day 8: Hello, Goodbye...

Remember that I mentioned in an earlier post how this trip was for my Dad...for my children... for family.  So it is to be expected that there would be tears...lots of them...  but especially during this time.

We left Naga right after breakfast to go to Libmanan. To see where Daddy was born and where he grew up.  It was a rather quick trip for me, so full of emotions.  

Our first stop was at the cemetery.  

Cemeteries to me are not a scary place.  (Although you would never find my superstitious self anywhere near one close to dark.) I can find myself getting lost amongst the mazes of graves very curious as to the people- who they were and how they died.  I always read their names lovingly engraved by their family.  There is so much history and it is interesting to see  the caste system shown even in death. 

This particular cemetery to me was full of sadness.  The group picture was taken at the entrance.  Already, you can see graves on top of each other creating a wall around the cemetery. 

As soon as you walk in, what you will immediately see is this site.  Depicted as if it was from a scene in a horror movie, the bones and the skulls of the dead lie.  We all stopped with our jaws hanging, at the spectacle of this sight.  We wonder if these bodies, now bones were long forgotten by family members or if they were just tossed there atop of the others.  When we asked, my cousin tells us that alot of the people in town are very poor.  He says that for alot of these families, they cannot afford any fancy burials.  That some cannot even afford a casket.  Alot of them resort to burying their dead in cardboard boxes. 

Others, like the ones in the wall use plastic bags because they will last longer than the cardboard. When the boxes fall apart or the graves break over time, the bodies are left to the elements.  If you look closely enough, you will see the hipbone on the top left grave.

(The names have been blurred out of respect)

Our family's plot was in the very back. 

A soon as I saw the names, my emotions got the better of me. 

It was not enough to just look at them and talk to them in my head...  I had to touch them....every single one of their names, with their images in my mind of how I remember them or know of them.

And then there's Daddy introducing them to all of us...and especially his grandchildren.

It was a very solemn time.  We all lit the candles that we brought and tried hard to keep them lit. 

We all said our hellos... and a little later, we all said our goodbyes.