Long day

I was having a good Monday night out with my best former colleague (BFC) at a watering hole (after having a casual celebratory dinner for a former co-worker's birthday, when I got a call from my aunt. I'm not comfortable with calls, it's either good news or bad news. She relayed to me that Mutsi (that's one among pet names we call  my mother's eldest brother) died at around 10. He was 73 years old.

When I told my former colleague that I had to go home in awhile (we had planned to night-out longer) because my uncle has died and I know that I will be the one to assist my mother as I know she'd be the one to carry out my old uncle's requests, BFC gave me consoling look and told me, "It's God's will, I think, to have him rest now." I gave BFC an assured smile.

In my previous work (in insurance), I encountered a few people who proudly told me that at their age now (usually above 50), they think they've already met their quotas. Colloquially, when things are already all good, people say, "Quota na!" I think, Mutsi, who was a bachelor, may be already quotang-quota. 

Today, I woke up early to run errands for my mother. My uncle is to be cremated.

Here's the timeline of what I went through on this day: 

Before 8 AM: Uncle (mother's another brother) and I from Pili went to Naga to inquire about the cremation.

Sad that his remains wasn't yet not being taken care of.

By 8:30: We were being instructed by this nice woman about the cremation process and requirements of the Naga Imperial Crematory and Columbary. There's the death certificate of course, the transfer permit (of the cadaver from Baao to Naga and vice versa) and the payments.

Around 9: Travel to Baao, my maternal hometown. Amid the rush to get to the house to have the funeral service be done the soonest, I got to enjoy on our way the countryside feel beneath the cast skies.

Around 9:30: Bound for Naga. Mother would later join us on our way to the crematory. I rode in the funeral service van-truck. My uncle's body wasn't placed in a casket but his body lied on that stretcher. We from the family didn't mind at all. It's how it goes, maybe.

10:21: We arrived on the NICC. Familiar view as I can still remember the telecast of Sec. Jesse's memorial on the very same place.

I saw the huge oven but we were not allowed to check it out closely. The oven are is "restricted blah blah blah."

10:25: We were made to wait inside their fancy room with nice periwinkle long chairs. When I glanced at mother, she kind of looked anxious. Then this service man came in to get some papers signed by mother. After a while, I overheard her and aunt (the one who called) talked about what happened in the last three days (from Saturday when Mutsi checked out from the hospital until last night). I wasn't in eavesdrop mode so I used the available television to watch Kusina Master. Couldn't focus on seeing the yummy foods as well. 

Death makes me have death thoughts. For someone who used to hear and/or say, memorial/burial/natural death/accidental death, in work, I should have get used to the feeling.  

Around 11: Mother and I went back to NICC office to settle the payments and choose the urn. I picked the one etched with praying hands, made of acrylic -- marble, or clay, is heavy.

12:30-something: After buying some groceries, eating lunch and ordering take-outs, we were back in the crematory's fancy room.

The men's CR feels weird. It has no urinals, only two toilet bowls a little next to each other. Thought of two men peeing at the same time and, you know.. jeje.

1:04: This is off: I made a deposit in the depository. Guilty! Hey, I wouldn't want to feel weird for the rest of the day.

1:26: Cremation is done. We were made to witness the transfer of the ash to the urn. One guy got this quite-huge pot with the ash, then he poured it down to the plastic being held by other guy. Once done, they tied the plastic and placed it into the urn through its bottom opening. Lastly, the lid on the bottom got sealed. The final touch was placing the urn in a blue satin bag.

Around 2: Back to the office for the releasing of documents.

Around 2:30: I got awaken. I've slept. I looked outside and saw the gone-gloomy, likely-to-rain Naga skies. Release was taking too long.

2:42: Done, deal. En route to Baao. 

I was like a ping-pong today, I remarked through a Fezbook status. I'm back home now as I write this. 

Oh, this loooong day. Tomorrow is another day.