Hey all! Mel here to share with everyone some history, the beauty and deeply personal thoughts on Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Now even though my Dad’s side of the family is Mexican, when they immigrated to the U.S. they gave up almost all of their traditions to assimilate in the hopes to cut down on they racism they faced. This holiday was one of them and up until a few years ago I didn’t really know what it was.
The first thing I learned when wanting to know more about this side of my heritage was that this holiday isn’t only one day but 3. Each day has a specific meaning with itss own traditions dependent on the region you’re from. It starts on October 31st when you celebrate and remember the children that have passed. November 1st is for adults and November 2nd is for family. Often families will go to the cemetery to clean the grave stones and leave gifts for their loved ones.
Alters (ofrendas) are also a very common thing done to honor a loved one. They can be simple or complex. The one pictured above was a community one at our city’s celebration a few weeks back. The owners had ribbons and cards people could write on and leave for their loved ones.
There were other alters inside on display. (No one was there to get permission for pictures.) One of them really helped me teach my kids about alters. It was a son who made one for his father. His dad was a huge Star Wars fan and the father passed away on May 4th, 2016. The alter had all the traditional aspects as well as Star Wars items as a gift for the father. The son even gave a sugar skull-style makeover to a Darth Vader helmet. It was a beautiful tribute and celebration from a son to a father.
Now some of the most recognizable things for Dia De Los Muertos are the sugar skulls and Catrinas. The sugar skulls are in fact made out of sugar and used as a one of the gifts left on the alters. They are also a tasty snack for kids and adults alike to enjoy themselves. Catrinas are the fancy figures and folk art of women.
There are so many more amazing and beautiful traditions left to share but I wanted to end this post on what this celebration means to me. On November 20th, 2016 it will be 6 years since I lost my dad. It was tragic and awful as most losses are. I struggled for years try to heal from it. It wasn’t until I was sitting in a dark theater watching The Book Of Life where I was given the tools I needed to do so. As I said before this tradition was one of many my family gave up when they immigrated from Mexico to the US. In finding out more about it I was able feel closer to not only my Dad’s heritage but my Dad. I was able to say goodbye. To mourn in a way that felt healing. I was able able to feel comfort from others, not because they lost others too but because they were willing to make space and show kindness to a stranger.
I want to do the same for you here. Share stories of your loved ones. Let us all remember and celebrate the people we love together. I’ll leave you with the line that helped mend my heart:
“The world keeps spinning, and the tales keep turning, and people come and people go, but they’re never forgotten. And the one truth we know, it held true one more time… That love, true love, the really, really good kind of love, never dies.” – La Muerte, Book Of Life