I inadvertently forgot that the traditional Alay-Lakad to Antipolo is held every Holy Thursday and not the Good Friday. I didn’t have time to prepare telling my parents about it because I was staffing the store since Holy Tuesday.

And none of my frat mates (who was always with me when I go there) had the guts to ask permission for me to my parents. It has been two years since the last time I have joined them in this yearly tradition that I even forgot when it was supposedly held. Last year I was with Jules in Bicol so I wasn’t able to come.

I waited for hours for anyone to fetch me in the store to tell me that my parents have already allowed me to come but no one did. I waited while I watched that Lenten Special over at Channel 7, Sa Kandungan ng Langit, which if I’m not mistaken, won in the New York TV awards.

It was another tale of hope and seeking acceptance, and yes, it has again moved me. The actors were great though I haven’t seen them before except for a few. It was a story about the leprosy-infected people who have been renounced by their own families because of their malady. It was impossible for anyone not to feel pity for them. They live together in solitude and find solace in one another while their own family lives away from them, mercilessly repulsive over their condition.

The main plot circles on forgiveness and acceptance, two of the hardest things we people can do. And for me, it was the perfect Holy Week special. The whole drama made me forget about that doomed Alay-Lakad.