My daughter and I are open-minded toward phenomena that neither science nor religion can explain. So when Mommy passed on, we were half-expecting that we'd be experiencing some paranormal phenomena, as what is quite common whenever there are deaths. Not that we were looking forward to it -- we just programmed ourselves to be ready if such events did occur. After all, it was still Mommy (or Lola, to my daughter), only in another form, so there was no reason to be afraid.
My daughter did develop this habit though, especially during the first few weeks after her Lola's passing. Every now and then, she'd mumble into open space as if talking to her Lola. "Tuman (her other nickname for her Lola)," she would say, "I love you...but please don't scare us, okay?"
And so, almost two months have passed and so far, we have remained paranormal activity-free...except for this one particular instance...
Yes, this is a ghost story.
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We have just concluded the second (and probably the most important) day of Mommy's wake. We just held our high mass for Mommy which was well-attended and which also featured no less than a respected figure of the local Catholic Church officiating her mass, as well as the beautiful voices of my choirmates, the Loreto Minstrels. It was already past midnight when our last visitor left and I told my daughter that we first have to consolidate all the "abuloy" for that day before going home. (Yes, we didn't stay 24/7 at the funeral parlor. Please read my previous article regarding this.)
Usually when we leave, the funeral parlor maintenance keepers take over by cleaning up the chapel and closing it up when they're done. They will only open the doors again when we come back.
That night, the old Manong assigned to Mommy's chapel came in with a story that gave us goosebumps.
Manong related that the night before, he did his nightly chores at the chapel and closed it for security purposes. However, even with the closed doors, one could still see inside as the chapel had glass walls. Outside the chapel were still some pews that just about anyone could sit on.
After tidying up the chapel, Manong went to their other branch which was several blocks away, also to clean up their other chapels. It was almost dawn when he returned to the branch where Mommy was in. Upon his return, the other maintenance keepers who stayed confronted him to ask a question: did he allow other members of our family inside during the wee hours of the morning?
As it turned out, at around 3 or 4 AM, several of them saw an old woman inside the chapel where Mommy's remains were placed. They couldn't see her face because she had her back toward them, and she was apparently standing behind the pews and staring at the coffin.
Manong asked them what the old woman looked like. According to them, she had short white hair, a thin frame, and she was wearing a long black printed dress with long sleeves and a collar.
The description of the old woman's dress was the exact same description of what Mommy was wearing in the coffin (!).
Note that only Manong was the only one allowed to enter the chapel where Mommy was having her wake. Ergo, only he knew what Mommy looked like.
Also note the time when they allegedly saw the old woman inside the chapel. That was around the same time when Mommy passed on.
My daughter and I could only look at each other and whisper, "Hala....."
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That episode was the first and only time that Mommy tried to make a connection with the living. We could only guess that she probably showed up at the chapel because she was worried that she would be cremated without a mass in her memory -- which we did grant her later that day.
I guess her soul was satisfied that we were able to give her the Catholic rites she wanted. She's now at peace.
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