Undas: Coming to terms with our mortality

Losing a loved one is hard enough. Remembering them during Undas, Philippine style, is even harder,
So how do you honor thee? Let Filipinos show the ways.

Plodding through a crowd of people similarly aching to get to their departed loved ones' tombs is one of them. Climbing the side of a mountain to be with their late kin is another.

How about combing the apartment-style resting places to find the names of the departed? Or asking cemetery management the whereabouts of your dead's remains?

Some are lucky enough to have their relatives' resting places in air-conditioned columbaria or the well-manicured lawns of sprawling memorial parks. They don't even have to do the cleaning as caretakers do it for them.

For those who can afford it, pet cemeteries are good places to honor their beloved fur babies. Those who have heroes for kin just troop to the upscale Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Taking the opportunity of the occasion to bond with family and friends, some opt to take selfies and groupies to mark the event, never mind the solemnity of the occasion. Others just go on with making the most of the high foot traffic to sell flowers, candles and other Undas paraphernalia.

As loud music, drinking liquor and playing cards are no longer allowed in the country's two major cemeteries, others simply light candles and do what is really necessary — PRAY.

It's a better alternative to merrymaking and socializing. After all, Undas is really for remembering the dead.

And, of course, coming to terms with our mortality.