IF I HAD 24 HOURS TO LIVE…

By Rosalía Nalleli Pérez-Estrada

If I had 24 hours to live, I would probably occupy 3 hours of them to write a long message to each person that I love, thanking for the best moments I´ve lived with them and I would beg their pardon for anything I did wrong.

If I had only 24 hours to live, in that deep human wish of continuing living forever, I would water the flowers of my house, so they continue blooming longer, to mark the trace that people leave when they go forever but there´s something there that always reminds them.

I would also thank God for the most beautiful presents He gave me to enjoy this life: my parents, brothers, job, students, friends, coworkers, neighbors and my beloved companion who has walked to my side, for more than 20 years, and the learning they´ve all shared with me. I would thank Him too, for the beautiful family I formed, my beautiful kids, and all the people with whom I had the opportunity of dreaming of.

 I would probably select the songs to be sung in my funeral to avoid listening to the Mariachi songs that are quite good for a party but for a funeral, because of their love or deceit messages, that sometimes seem out of context.

I would probably send an invitation to some of my closest friends to accompany me in my funeral, and I would ask them all not to cry, but to be happy and to celebrate the moment of my transference for something new and better.

 In addition to this, I would surely pay for all the expenses that my burial could cause because It´s not easy to die in Tlaxcala, Mexico;  due to all the inherited traditions we have: many people accompanying the corpse, a big wooden coffin, lots of colorful flowers that surround it, a big meal after the funeral and eight long days of catholic rosaries accompanied by coffee, tea, sodas or beer, bread and dinner which are given every night to people who pray for the eternal soul, plus the delicious meal that is given right after 9 days when, according to the traditions, a white cross is set on the tomb, to protect you from  bad events.

 Finally, and trying to take advantage of the reminding time, I would dedicate to say good bye to all my memories, to pardon any damage received and made to myself; to forget all the promises that in a moment of enthusiasm I had said without thinking how short life is for everybody, and I would try to cut all the energetic cords hooked on, in life, to begin meditating in a very deep wish to rest in peace, trying not to cry, but to thank the life, the air and the occupied space, while I wait for the matter transformation.

Rosalía Nalleli Pérez-Estrada