Month: December 2021

It has been a long time since we have had a large group at Wat Opot… but today the COVID jinx was broken by a visit from the HATTHA BANK management and staff.

It took a lot of work getting the grounds and stage back in shape, but most of the children were excited about meeting new people again and so they did not mind the work all that much.

I did my usual worrying about all the possibilities of things going wrong or children misbehaving but in the end, everyone did very well and everything went as planned.

Fortunately, Mr. Ouen did the opening introduction and all I had to do is sit on stage and look like I understood everything being said.

They left us with a good supply of rice and condiments as well as sandwiches, coke, and fried chicken for each of the children.

Mask and alcohol, which we use a lot of, were also in their donation, and although we have not had any request for cremation in the past two weeks, 2 cases of the new virus have been found in the country… so we are not sure of what the future holds.

It was a good day for all of us, and we are very grateful to the very well-organized HATTHA BANK staff for their interest in supporting us.

Thanks for dropping in on us.

The Partners and all of the Watopotians wish you a very Merry Christmas!

It is always nice when our grown-up children return home, even though most of the time it is for personal reasons. Like any family, our children at times run into obstacles along the Paths they are following… sometimes of their own making and at other times because of sickness or accidental injury. Unfortunately, at times they wait too long to share their problems and we lose them to suicide or serious illness… two of our family were taken this year. Most of the time, however, a little cash and some encouragement is all they need.

It is almost Christmas time again and we have a large group scheduled for this coming Saturday. It will be the first time since COVID Restrictions went into effect several months ago, that we can allow visitors on campus again. Last year we did not do anything for Christmas, partially because of the restrictions but also because Mr. Nith, who has for several years designed our Christmas decorations, was involved in a serious accident that left him hospitalized. Although still not fully recovered and unemployed, he has volunteered to start teaching art classes to our children again, and this past Sunday he worked on the Christmas decorations with his class.

We are expecting over one hundred people to attend the event and so we needed to get an early start on the decorations and cleaning around the stage.

It is just the beginning, but enough to make us start feeling positive again about Life and Living… after what seemed like an eternity of death and cremations.

Thanks for stopping by… and a special thanks to all who are supporting and encouraging us in what has been a difficult time. We are doing OKAY thanks to you. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The WATOPOTIANS

From time to time I am asked if I believe in a Spiritual world, and I never know quite what to say. I do believe that the energy that is Life continues, once it leaves the form that it has inhabited… but to say that it continues to have the identity of that form is questionable. Still, it gives me great comfort at times to believe that the soft whisper of my name in the middle of the night, or that shadowy figure that playfully reveals itself on occasions from the corner of my good eye… is someone that I have once known and loved. 

This picture was taken while walking to the crematorium one evening, shortly after the death of two of our children. The child in my right hand is real… but in my left hand, I was holding nothing.

This picture was taken while looking for the Spirit of the boy in the picture. A moving Orb that appears to have a hot to cold trail is extremely rare. Could it be the energy of Chhange… or is it just coincidental?

I suppose we will never know for sure until we pass through the veil ourselves, but if the Spiritual world does exist, then these are some good examples for proving their existence… and if it doesn’t exist, then these are some very good illusions.

Thanks for stopping in, and thanks to all of you who continue to support us… your thoughts and encouragement are greatly appreciated.

The Partners

It started back in March of this year with A Rare Request for a cremation service. Our crematorium hadn’t been used for several years and was in disrepair… but the request was from a desperate mother whose daughter had just committed suicide by hanging and no one else wanted any part of her cremation for fear of vengeance from the departed spirit. I woke some of the guys and we got the oven ready… fortunately the crematorium still worked but it was obvious that repairs had to be made before doing any more.

The following week we cleaned up the area around the burner and rearranged the rooms just in case we received another request at some point in the future. We didn’t have to wait long… in the first part of May, we got a call that someone had died from COVID-19 and no one wanted to do the cremation for fear of catching the Virus. I told them we would do it as a temporary solution to their problem but had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Nearly every day since then, and sometimes two or three times in one day, the ambulances would come with bodies to be burned… 167 to be exact, before the end of November. Then, just after Thanksgiving Day, another request for cremating a victim of suicide and, as if the cycle had been completed the telephone stopped ringing.

It has been 6 days now since the last cremation and I am beginning to enjoy myself again. Working in the garden, cleaning the swimming pool, thinking about taking some days off on the coast, maybe even doing an excursion with the kids… and just letting the flames die out. It has been a long stretch and I am happy that is finally coming…

“Hello. Yes, we can do it. How soon before the body gets here?”

Thanks for stopping in. We appreciate your support and encouragement.

The Partners