Despite being busy with work, mum told me that she had spent the last day or so planning and preparing to go see dad and our ancestors. It's that time of the year again, the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Ghost Month.
When I was young, it would always be a month of celebrations and feasts. People would prepare elaborate meals and buy lots of drinks, sweets, fruits and offer them to the 'ghosts', who are said to wander the world of the living for an entire month when the Gates of Hell open. Ghost Month is also a time, one of several, in the year when ancestors and deceased family members are remembered, worshipped. And a time when we the living ask for blessings from our deceased guardians...
If I were home, I would go with mum. I can just imagine her, carrying all those bowls and plates of rice and cooked food, baskets of fresh fruits and making that 2hour journey up the mountains to the temple where my dad's remains have been laid to rest. "Don't exhaust yourself," I said, "Being true and honoring them in your heart is more important than the elaborate dishes you can cook and offer them". I said that, because I did not want her to tire herself, to be so busy and running around frantically trying to please our ancestors. I know how mum can be...
If there is one thing that she should not be, it is being stressed and overly exhausted. Especially now that her health is again entering another critical condition...
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