WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE?

Flores de Mayo as it is no longer as it was

I first learn God and the story of creation, and all that are in the Bible from my Lola Erang. She's not my grandmother actually; she is my aunt. When I was around eight years old, I attended her catechism classes done every May. In these classes, school age children were taught basic Christian prayers in preparation for the first communion, which usually happened by the end of this merry month. I could still remember going to the church after each class, joining other children in honoring the Blessed Mother in a month-long prayer known as the Flores de Mayo. After the mass, we then formed lines to receive attendance tabs which we exchanged for school supplies on day of our first communion. I missed those days not for the fun of them, but today, simply for its significance to my life as an adult.

This afternoon I attended again the Flores de Mayo. For many years now, I have observed that children who attended the novena became less and less. I was so sad today because there were even more beatas than children inside the church. I was consoled though because I saw some of my students there. They were volunteer cathechists. I wanted to ask what happened to the children. Where have all the children gone? I hesitated because I knew they could not also provide me with an answer. It was beyond theirs. It was even way beyond those people inside the church this afternoon. A lot of probable answers danced in my mind. All of them realizations of how much the older generation have taken for granted this significant event in a child's life - the Flores de Mayo and the memories that come with it.

This afternoon was the only afternoon again that I joined other children for the Flores de Mayo. Have I been too engrossed with life and the illusion that comes with living that I failed to go back to my authentic child self? When I was young, I believed that life was to be enjoyed and that life had nothing but happiness to offer us all. It was when I started going againt this law of nature that I started to suffer pain. I went against what nature has long wanted me to be, to believe. I envied the children this afternoon, all smiles waving their lithe armes on air with flowers clasped on hand. Theirs were smile of utter innocence, of that childhood belief that life is beautiful...but there were only few of them and I was not even one.