Hair Raising Experience

Some long time ago, my grandmother's brother passed away. A funeral service was held for a few days, followed by his burial services - all of which, I've attended.

It is customary in the Philippines for the immediate family to hold a "reception" after the burial - snacks will be served at the memorial garden, and sometimes, a meal is served at their home. I think it is a way of showing gratitude to everyone who paid their respects to their family member who recently passed away, and to celebrate the life he lived as well.

Back then, after his burial, my lolo's (general term - grandfather) immediate family invited all the guests to share a meal at their home. They lived close to my grandmother and so before I went to their home for lunch, I went to my grandmother's for a change of clothes (the clothes I was wearing was drenched in sweat). I had my cousins accompany me and had them wait for me by the living room. I went to the guest room (the room my family was using) and immediately went on to change my clothes. Right as I was pulling my shorts (pants) up (at a bent position), I noticed a thick lock of my hair was raised in my peripheral vision. I straightened up and confirmed that indeed my hair was raised at a position parallel to the floor, kind of like when someone's holding it from the tip. I immediately thought it was just static since I was a little close to the "wooden" wall and so I tried tugging the hair and rubbing the air in between. But, nothing worked. It held its position. The thick lock of hair was still raised, kind of like it was floating. It didn't hurt but it sure scared me a lot as I was still a young girl back then. I hurriedly finished changing and ran out of the room as fast as I possibly could, and told my cousins the "hair-raising" story. We were all kids, so quite expectedly, we ran off to my lolo's home fast.

When we arrived at their home, I told my parents and some close relatives what happened. They told me it was just probably my lolo playing tricks on me. They explained that back when he was alive, he used to love playing tricks on his grandchildren all the time. Maybe it was just his way of saying goodbye.