A few days before Valentine's Day 2022, I was able to write something about how my beloved departed parents first met in the 1960s. I posted this on a site called Journals.PH. Interestingly, this post entitled, Two Negrenses Meet In Manila - A Love Story from the 1960s, shot up to 5,000 views in a few days - and still the numbers are going up.
I was inspired to write about my parents' serendipitous meeting due to an article which I had transcribed into blog format a few days prior. The article I transcribed was the story of the First Wedding in Malacanang. This was a love story in the time of war written by Behn Cervantes and published on printed page in a Fil-Am magazine. The story was never published on the internet so I transcribed it for everyone to appreciate - the story of Eduardo Ledesma and Nena Vargas, whose union happened at Malacanang during the Second World War.
Because of that post on the Ledesma-Vargas wedding, many who were unaware of the role of the late Jorge B. Vargas, Executive Secretary to President Manuel L. Quezon, had a glimpse of the difficulties during the Japanese Occupation. Fast forward to today, we too are beset with a different kind of difficulty in pandemic or post-pandemic times. The ease of travel is not like before. Visits to the remains of beloved departed in their final earthly resting places are few and far in between.
As of this writing, I have not been to Negros for more than 2 years. And in my last visits, I was not able to visit my parents' final resting place due to tight schedules.
As most remedies have emerged during these times of COVID-19, the answer finds its way back to digital media. With the inability to visit a memorial park, cemetery, or whatever physical resting place, the alternative is just to have this singular link on the internet where memories of the beloved departed can somehow live. Frankly speaking, it would be more meaningful than marble slabs indicating name, date of birth, and date of death.
With this, family members should consider creating a well written post on the internet, outside of Facebook, where friends and family could pay respects even long after the funeral. As a Digital Media Strategist and Consultant, finding that space and place is easy. The challenge is - who will write it?
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