This First Person column is the experience of Jim Agapito, host of the CBC Radio series and podcast Recovering Filipino. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
It took three days to get to my dad’s funeral in the Philippines because of a chaotic string of flights and cancellations: Winnipeg to Vancouver, Vancouver to Tokyo and Tokyo to Manila. When I landed, it took another four-hour drive to my mom’s home in a small, rural area called Jaen, Nueva Ecija.
I was tired and devastated. When I saw the coffin, all I wanted to do was burst
