Epitaph

Have you ever asked yourself what epitaph to write on your tombstone when you die?

As I’m taking pleasure in relaxing last night, my attention has been snatched by a news on TV about the mass shooting of a drug addict on a neighborhood in Cavite City. Eleven civilians died while a lot of people were injured.  Everyone was inexorable.  And all of that was just because of a “trip” of a certain person drown to drugs. And then I whispered behind my head, how fast we could all die! One blunder of someone can stop the life of another. One means of a person’s enjoyment hooked on drugs can be a slaughter for a lot of people in a community. Anyone can be a victim, anytime and in any place…

How can we escape this so-called “death”? How are we prepared for it and how can we possibly accept  with readiness when none of us wants to die? I suddenly recall ideas in my head when I thought about “epitaph” on a trip on All Saints Day 2010 to Tarlac for a visit with my brother-in-law’s deceased members of the family. From one cemetery to another; I even thought it was a reunion. How can I stop my mind from being open and vague to imaginations?

I wonder why only famous people contain epitaphs on their graves. Can’t ordinary people put their final say on their tombstone? It pinched my attention from roving my eyes around the trees and mountains alongside the area as we passed through Hacienda Luisita coming home that day. And suddenly I asked myself what’s the best to carve on my own tombstone? I want something so special, an inscription that will summarize my stay on earth. How I want to be remembered when I die? The works I have done and accomplished? My sayings and grown-up beliefs? The character I want people to recall when they think of me.

Lines came to me as we trail on the expressway…

Maybe I should say, “thanks to friends who enjoyed my stay and also to the enemies who can’t wait for this day".  I laughed at myself while thinking of my loved ones’ reaction after reading that. Or perhaps a better line could be “see you soon.” I have thought of a lot of things to say like “here comes the body of a girl who loves night but scared of sleeping” or “finally this girl will sleep longer than 5 hours”, “those who want to come with me here, text text na lang”. Now I’m laughing my heart out but nobody seems to figure out why! LOL… “Sorry for being pale, death failed to request an appointment” or “I was always ready to die, however, people around me left unprepared“  or yet “sorry for the short notice”. I have considered a lot of entertaining lines which simply describes me. “Due to the constraints of time, I wasn’t able to coordinate with you regarding this event" or “Some people wish they can have part two, well I don’t”. “This girl has been very excited meeting her maker, she refused to wake up”. I can also use it to describe myself like “the explorer who refused to rest and eat, now dies tired” or  “the girl who never missed a gathering will now miss her own”. On a serious note, these also entered my mind. “Fragile emotions, brave heart” and “the date of my birth and death is unessential; my epitaph is the interval between them”. 

But before we went home that night, I have come up with I think the best thing that can ever describe me:

“The girl who always looks for thrill in ordinary, finds courage in fear, strives appreciation in emptiness and hits life in trying.”

What about you? What lines would you want to leave the world when you die? Share that here and leave the world with question...