One All Saint's Day

All Saint’s Day will always be remembered. How could Kay forget this unforgettable day?

Every first of November, by tradition, Papsie and everybody, including my kids, and me would visit the grave of the beloved ones. It is always a day of gathering, meeting relatives we haven’t seen for a long time. Tiring it maybe, especially for Papsie, who is always tired the whole of the week for the preparation; it is always a day of excitement (??). I know, I know, it should not be the case because it should be a time for commemorating the day for the departed loved ones. But you can’t blame the young because this is one of the few times they would see each other again and talk about many things as if there would be no more days to come. The young always seek for fun and excitement, and November 1 is not excluded.

Papsie and I would always go home first after lunch time then they would be fetched around 5 pm or 6 pm, whichever time they wished Papsie would be back. That time of November 1 last year the road was really in a jam so when they texted Papsie, he replied that he would be around 7 pm because he does not want to be caught in the gridlock.

When the group came home, my sister-in-law muttered that Kay was in shock. I asked in alarm what had happened. She was just starting to tell me the whole story (that a boy in his teens touched her crotch while walking with her male cousin to buy pizza outside the cemetery) when Kay burst out crying, enbracing me in tears. She wasn’t able to narrate the whole incident immediately. The group decided not to tell Papsie because of their concern that his BP will rise. That must have been very difficult for my daughter because she wanted to release the fright from the incident.

It turned out that her male cousin offered to buy pizza thinking that Papsie would be back late. Kay offered to go with him, being that chummy with this cousin of hers. Kay suddenly stopped walking, mouth wide open, and eyes, too. She turned her head to see who the assailant was and she saw the teenager still looking at her. Her cousin noticed the reaction and asked if a valuable was taken from her. Kay suddenly cried telling him, "Nahipuan ako!" (Somebody touched me!) "Sino? Sino?" (Who did that to you?) The guy’s gone and they decided to go back, Kay in tears. Hearing that, my brother-in-law went to the police detachment that was there with the description Kay gave. They weren’t able to find the teenager.

Papsie came at the cemetery without a hint because Kay was instructed to be silent for his father's sake. It was only then he knew what happened when he came into the house after settling the car. Kay hugged Papsie and cried so hard. We tried to console her and assured her that that was nothing. A cousin, in her desire to comfort her, told her, "’Wag mo nang isipin ‘yan, matatanggal sa paligo ‘yan!" (Don’t think about it anymore, just take a bath and it’ll be gone!" Dra. Cathy also took her part of giving solace by narrating her near-death ordeal with a hoodlum taxi driver and his cohorts.

I knew that time our efforts were vain attempts to make her forget the incident. But Kay felt that everybody was there for her and nothing had changed her person.

That was a year ago. Last November 1, when we were at the cemetery, she told everybody it is her ‘anniversary’, remorse not evident anymore.