“Some pagan traditions believe that the soul of a recently deceased person continues to wander the earth for forty days.” - some link on Google
“From the Catholic and Orthodox Christian memorial services
and 40 days of prayer for the dead to the death rites of Hinduism, Buddhism,
and Islam, the 40th day stands for universal respect for the change of the
soul.” - also Google
How did people come with these 40 days though? Whoever
started this might be really shocked when their loved one died. They weren’t
ready because, who are ever ready for such a painful experience?
So, they started to create this belief, right? They needed
to believe that they still had the last chance to say goodbye to the deceased.
They needed to believe they still had time to say whatever they needed to say.
So, maybe they came up with a number, right? A reasonable number. Oh, how long would it take for me to say all the things I need to say? Let’s try a week.
Maybe a week wasn't enough for them. Maybe they were just a bunch of procrastinators. Maybe they had an issue with the deceased,
so after 7 days, they needed to add some more days, maybe 10, and then 20, and
then 30 days, which would make a lot of sense, because it would be a month, but
again, these people might have an issue right, since ancient parenting might
not be as gentle as its counterpart nowadays.
So, they added more days. Somehow, it stopped at the 40th day. Maybe they just couldn’t get more day-off. They really had to go back to the farm—yeah, I assume this belief started during the agrarian era. After 40 days, maybe they were like, "You know what? Let's just believe that they'll be born again one day."
Whatever that was, we ended up having the 40 days thing.
“There is a belief that the soul continues to wander the
Earth for another 40 days after the initial death. While wandering, the soul
visits significant places from their life as well as their fresh grave. At the
end of the 40 days, the soul finally departs from this world.” - still Google
Let’s say that’s true: Dad continued to wander the Earth for
40 days after his soul left his body, and his soul went to visit significant
places from his life. Where would he have wandered? I could only guess.
What would be his significant places? As a conservative guy
who always aimed for stability and a comfort zone, he actually had a pretty
interesting life.
He was born and raised in Klaten, a small city in Central Java. That's also where we kept his ashes. So, Klaten should be one of the significant places for him. It surely is a significant place for me.
He might wander around his childhood home, my grandparents' house, a very special place for my childhood as well. He told me my grandfather often rode a motorbike with him to a river. That river then became a venue for the execution of the PKI members, and he never went there anymore.
When we were little, Dad took us to a river near where we used to live. It wasn't a fancy place and I don't think other people would take their children there, but Dad took us there, and we just played around the river while eating snacks, mostly peanuts.
Dad might go to Yogyakarta as well. That city seemed special too. In high school, Dad left his parents' house and moved to Yogyakarta. His old friends, mostly from high school, still live in that city. Most of my father's siblings also live in Yogyakarta. Dad used to go there almost every year, sometimes even twice or thrice a year.
My grandpa never told his children to get married, but he told his children to see the world just like other parents told their children to get married. So, Dad needed to explore the world. At the same time, Dad loved stability, security, safety net, and comfort zone. So, he became a pilot in what seemed to be the most stable and secure airline in this country.
So, he got to explore the world. He traveled to many countries and met the love of his life, that luckily, happened to be Mom.
He went to many beautiful cities that he really liked, London, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Seoul, Nagoya, Guang Zou, mostly in East Asia and West Europe. He was into foreign languages. I got it from him. Once, when he landed in Paris, he spoke in French to the ATC, but he didn't really speak French. He just memorized those sentences. When the guy responded in French, he was really confused. It was one of the stories he liked to tell all over again, but I never got tired of it.
He might as well go to Santorini. We went there together in 2015 and he really loved it. We all did. Greece is the best country we've ever been to. We went on Katamaran tour. Dad always loved being on a boat, feeling the waves shaking the boat, the strong wind on his face, and probably also the bright sun to make his pale skin a little darker. He was always self-conscious with his pale skin. He used to have much darker skin when he was young, and I think he always wanted that skin back.
Dad also loved Switzerland. That country is really beautiful, neat, and organized. Dad really admired how on time people there are, how well-mannered and disciplined. Also, one of Dad's siblings, yes, my aunt, lives in Switzerland. Dad was very close to her. Dad never stopped talking about her and her daughter. He was so proud of them.
Dad went to a flying school in the US once, and he really liked the US as well. He loved the lifestyle there. In the last 10 years of his life, he disliked the US and was really leaning to Russia and China, but he used to adore the US a lot, especially California and Hawaii. Did I just make him sound uncultured? Well, he wasn't uncultured.
Anyway, he really liked Hawaii. I think he might spend the whole 40 days in Hawaii. While we were trying to talk to him here, saying goodbye, crying, or trying not to cry because we didn't want him to see us cry, he might not be around us at all. He might be in Hawaii, watching Hula dancers and the fire dance, and watching the sea and the coconut tree. He might be totally unaware of what happened back in Indonesia.
Once when he lived in the US, he drove a car while listening to the radio, and he really enjoyed the music from the american radio. His favorite was the Beach Boys.
Dad loved driving while listening to his music. Who doesn't? It was always our thing until his last days. Dad would drive his car, I would sit next to him, and we would listen to his songs. I knew most of his songs because we liked the same music, but sometimes I heard some songs I never heard before, and then I would ask him, and we would talk about the song, the artist, the story behind the song, and the cover versions.
Dad loved The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, and The Beatles, but he also loved some american artists like Simon and Garfunkel, Chicago, and of course, the Beach Boys. That's why I like those bands.
Dad loved to sing and he had a pretty good voice. We used to go to live music almost regularly. The band already knew Dad and they always let him sing on the stage. Dad also sang at my brother's and my sister's wedding.
At home, I often sang karaoke with Dad. We mostly sang Led Zeppelin and Elton John. Maybe the music/TV room is also one of the significant places he would wander around.
When he wasn't traveling around the world though, Dad was just a simple stay-at-home man. He spent most of his time at home. He was an introvert and a very private person. When he wasn't working, he would rather spend his time alone or with his children, even when we were all grown up.
There was a time when Dad would go for a walk almost every morning with Mom and me. We would then go to Dad's favorite market to eat breakfast and buy some fruit. Maybe he would wander around the market too.
On Sunday he would go to the church. He would wake up very early in the morning and take forever to take a shower. Oh, he really took a very long time to take a shower and get ready. He would then emerge from the bathroom smelling so good. It was his aftershave. Now I keep the aftershave and smell it every time I miss him, which is all the time.
So... 40 days huh?
I never really believe in any version of the afterlife, but I don't have a proof that afterlife doesn't exist either. So, it made me feel better when I let myself believe in some versions, and if this 40-days thing happened to be true, well, I guess it's a real goodbye then. Maybe he's still in Hawaii, enjoying his last day on earth without acknowledging our grief at all, but maybe he's been around.
I just need to tell him how much I love him. He was my whole world. I miss checking on him in the morning, or when I came home at night. I miss talking to him at the dining table. I'm missing the lame jokes he kept telling me. I miss being in the car with him, listening to his songs. I miss him telling me, "Bapak nggak bawa kunci ya," before he left for the church, or "Kamu ada perlu apa?" when he left for the market.
Now that the 40 days had ended, maybe it's time for me to believe in reincarnation.