Death and Bridging of Gap

Among the stories that hit the headlines of the news during the hospitalization and the eventual wake of Cory Aquino in the Philippines were the Aquino’s acceptance of what they called the sincere prayers of the Marcos family for the recovery of Cory and the civil reception that the children of Cory afforded the visiting scions of the president who was said to have caused – or ordered? – the assassination of Benigno Aquino, Jr.

It was reported that Ferdinand, Jr. and Imee Marcos stayed for less than thirty (30) minutes in the wake of Cory and chatted cordially with Mrs. Aquino’s eldest children, Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, and grandchildren Jiggy Cruz and Kiko Dee.

When pressed whether they are now open for possible reconciliation, the Marcos children did not issue a direct answer and the Aquino’s were equally equivocal.

Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. and Benigno Aquino, Jr. were political nemesis.  The former, in declaring Martial Law, ordered the incarceration of the latter.  Three years after the martyrdom of Aquino believed to be caused by Marcos, Aquino’s widow unified the opposition and rallied the people resulting to the depose of Marcos.

Similarly, when the former President of South Korea, Kim Dae Jung, died, North Korea surprisingly – at least, to me – sent a delegation.  It may be recalled that, during Kim Dae Jung’s presidency in 1998 until 2003, the relations between the two Koreas improved.  Proofs of this were the cultural, economic and social exchanges that were established.  For all these initiatives, the South Korean leader was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.

An observer in Korean affairs rightly observed that Kim Dae Jung is improving relations “even in death.”

Of course, this experience of death and reconciliation is shared by all humanity.  In fact, cultural anthropologists record what they call death-reconciliation dreams.  Apparently occurring in all cultures, death-reconciliation dream is a type of dream in which a dead person puts in an appearance.  The departed one may “explain” the death or indicate the death was “OK” or “meant to occur” or “had to be”; and the dreamer may use the opportunity to say a few last words, never spoken in real life.  Accordingly, the death-reconciliation dreams serve to help persons who are not fully reconciled with the death of a loved one – making such a dream emotionally refreshing and cleansing, and cathartic in the best sense.

But I’ve got a sane remark from my friend: why wait for the moment of death to be reconciled?

And he’s right.