Funeral and Burial

Lola's Funeral and Burial - September 23, 2017

I woke up to a hot ass morning. Mom bought pandesal at the Silva Bakery. Seriously, nothing better than eating pandesal and black coffee in the morning overlooking the rice patties. I shit you not, might be one of the best things in life.

There was some confusion about what time the funeral started, some people said it started at 8am, some said 10am. We weren't sure, but eventually a 12pm time was agreed upon. Aunt Lynnberg invited me to breakfast before mass. I was already full from the pandesal and coffee, but I ate what they made for me. The conversations was loud and full of excitement. But it was in visayan, so I didn't know what they were talking about. They did mention something about Aunt Lynnberg testifying in front of the Senate which is a big things going on right now in the Philippines.

Before mass, we took pictures at around 10am. The men dressed in white shirt and black pants. I had a chance to take a picture with Kikito and Leilani, my two cousins whom I've never seen in 36 years. After the pictures in front of the casket, about 4 Filipino men picked it up and put it in the hurst.

The church was in Ibajay about a 10 minute drive from Ondoy. It was really hot at this point. I was getting sticky. Mass was traditional. I went more than an hour. About 500 people showed up, it was a huge crowd. My families mood was somber as they reflect on how great Grandma's life was. Lots of tears were shed. But that is why I came, to pay my respects to Grandma.

After the funeral, the hurst drove in a procession to the cemetery. It was about a 2 mile walk. People had portable fans to cool them off. The walk about about 1/2 hour to the cemetery. The guys carried the casket from the hurst to the burial site. We had a chance to pay our finals respects.

I leaned over the casket and thanked Lola for all she did to ensure our family would live a good life.