The Girl Who Wore Red on Her Grandma's Funeral (2)

2nd of a five-part series

At the church, the children who dressed in red sat on a pew as they witnessed a stream of their grandmother’s friends and colleagues came to honor her leadership and friendship. Maria, the gladiola-bearing girl, recognized the speakers as her grandma’s companions at rallies.

Maria remembered that her grandma and her friends often wore red at rallies and street marches. Redis her grandma Siche’s favorite color, she recalled. She remembered her grandma would cover her head with a red hand-wovenkerchief called tubao, holding aloft placards of protest while around her, men held high huge banners and flags red as the sunrise over the hills of Salay.

Once at a rally, Maria recalled there were children almost as young as she who performed a skit about the sufferings of children running away from the violence of militarization, losing their parents who were gunned down in the night. She found herself asking when her grandma would wake from her long sleep so she could tell her that someday she would want to speak, sing and act at rallies.

Looking at old photographs I thought I have lost forever but have recovered from an old flash drive, I retrieved more than just memories. I re-imagined Maria, the girl who wore red on her grandma’s funeral way back in 2007.

Part one is found here: https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/libudsuroy/posts/36195

Part 3 is found here: https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/libudsuroy/posts/36224

Part 4 is found here: https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/libudsuroy/posts/36225

Part 5 is found here: https://www.worldpulse.com/en/community/users/libudsuroy/posts/36226