Most of the Filipino families are very much particular when it comes to celebrating death anniversaries. Death anniversary celebration is like a family gathering/reunion to some Filipinos.
The oldies will call the relatives who are away to pledge for something. The kids are also excited because they will see their cousins after a long time. This could also be the time when families or relatives from abroad or anywhere around will come home just to be in the celebration. This somehow ties a strong bond between the family. I find it funny sometimes because death anniversary is celebrated and prepared for compared to birthdays. Yeah, there are really families who celebrate it that way.
It goes without saying that most Filipino families enjoy celebrating special holiday, big or little. Even if mountains of dishes/used plates await us after the celebration, we find it very enjoyable to spend the days with our families/relatives. If there's no food, it isn't a party. 😉
Death anniversary is celebrated to commemorate someone in the family who's been in paradise. They may be long gone but their memories still live. This is one way of remembering them despite their passing. And we also believe that as we celebrate, the lost loved one is also celebrating with us.
Yesterday was the death anniversary of my boyfriend's grandmother. I was not able to publish an article too because I was carried away with the moment. Everybody was busy preparing for the food and I can't just stay in the room and do nothing. Early in the morning, we went to the market to buy everything needed. I also bought all-purpose cream, condensed milk, gelatin powder, mangoes and cheese because I pledge to make Mango Tapioca. My biggest mistake was I forgot to take pictures yesterday.
My boyfriend's mom is not much into cooking. I observed that she doesn't like cooking and would end up buying cooked meals so she's not there so active in preparing the food. My boyfriend's aunties just do the cooking. They cooked lumpiang shanghai, menudo, pansit, and made kinilaw. My mango tapioca is the dessert. I don't know if you're all familiar with these foods so I just attached the links there so you can see how they look like. They are the common foods we cooked during celebrations.
The cooking and all were done at around 12 PM so everyone gathered to eat lunch. Lunch without talking is not possible here. Some said that talking when mouth is full is inappropriate. Well sorry to those who said that because it's not practiced in here. My boyfriend's aunties and his cousins are very much lively and like to talk all the time. That's why I don't feel I am out of place when they're around. I think it's already 30 minutes and everyone was not done eating. One of the aunties advised that we must finish our food since we will go to the cemetery.
Yes, celebrating death anniversary would not be complete without visiting the loved one in the cemetery. Well if you're too away, you can still offer a prayer. We prayed there and then after, we headed back home home to prepare again for dinner.
There are still foods left so the rest were just heated. Additional foods were grilled fish and meat and chicken soup. After dinner, karaoke was on and drinks are served. The aunties and the uncles enjoyed singing old songs and the younger ones drank beer. They're so happy.
I celebrated with them too but I didn't sing. I'm still shy to show my talent in singing 😂. I just observed them so I know how to approach them. Yes, as I said, I do like to know more about my boyfriend's family. In case if there's complication, I would know right away. It's better than getting into the next level of the relationship and you'll realize there are things that don't favor you. It's kinda late because you already went to the next level but you can still withdraw. However, the process is not that easy.
When everyone was satisfied with the drinks, we took a rest and I think we ended the celebration at 9 PM or else we can disturb neighbors.
That's it. That's how they celebrated death anniversary here. We also have our version, my family's side but I will tell it in a different article.
How about you and your family? How do you celebrate death anniversary of a loved one?
Thank you so much guys for reading! You've been so kind to me since day one.
Thank you so much again for your time! To my generous sponsors, upvoters and to those who comments, I am sending you my warmest gratitude! Let's talk and get to know each other well.
Images taken from Unsplash.com
Ciao! ❤️
Lol, I didn't think this was about death anniversaries. Hehe. Well we don't do this at all. We only go to the cemetery during All Souls or Saints Day. That's it. :) Otherwise we offer mass for the dearly beloved person.