Patrick's Inurnment at La Loma Columbarium

2021 February 15

It is now 2 months since Patrick died. At first, we thought that we'd be more comfortable having his ashes in his urn at home. 

In fact, every morning, Dylan would greet him as soon as he walked into the room. I would often find him talking to him as if he was there. 

But, all things have their place so we decided that Patrick will also have his final resting place.

His is at La Loma Columbarium. 

He was cremated in the same location, actually. The La Loma Columbarium is a huge property in Caloocan. It has several buildings that host small crematory services. The one that handled Patrick's cremation was Mother Teresa Columbary. Our funeral service actually coordinated with them regarding all the details so all that was left, really, was to accompany Patrick there. 

At the time of cremation, they already asked us if we wanted to reserve a slot for Patrick's inurnment. But we decided against it then. Anyway, when we changed our minds, we simply called them up to find Patrick's final resting place. 

I did look at other columbarium sites around the area, but some were really, really expensive. At La Loma Columbarium, we were able to get a vault for around Php40,000. It is supposed to accommodate 4 urns.  We were lucky to be able to find one that's eye level, which is like a prime location :) At this level and for this price, we got a bargain. We paid for it in full so that we won't worry about it anymore. 

This is the building where the columbarium vaults are. Patrick's space is easy to get to because it's near the door and near the windows. 

The pandemic is still raging so I was sad that Dana and Dylan weren't able to accompany me when I laid their father to rest. Kids aren't still allowed to leave the house and there's a limit to the number of people coming to places like cemeteries and vaults. 

My cousin came with me. We were met at the lobby of the building by the representative from La Loma Columbarium and together, we opened Patrick's space. It was funny that Patrick has the biggest photo frame among the other people in the vaults LOL What's a little sad is that as I was looking at the other spaces, I noticed that almost all of them died within months of each other. Whether it was because of COVID or other natural causes, it was still heart-breaking. 

This was the view from Patrick's space. It kinda feels nice that a breeze regularly blows through. 

Being near this veranda guarantees that Patrick's space will almost always have natural light. It may be weird to think that considering he won't feel it or he won't see it, but it does give me a sense of comfort knowing he isn't in the dark. 

Anyway, we just went home after. My heart was heavy because it's finally done. He really is gone. I hope the kids will be okay. And I hope they get to visit him soon.