Day of the Dead: In the Cemetery

It’s always a good idea to honor and remember the dead. When my husband was little, he liked visiting the cemetery in the small town in Montana where his parents grew up; it seemed proper to him.

I like the idea of honoring those who came before us and remembering our dead relatives and friends. I think about my relatives and friends who have passed away often, but I think our American culture doesn’t offer much in the way of remembering them. This tradition is a nice way to make remembering apart of your life.

What I really like having the generations gather together, where stories about past family members can be shared and passed on to the younger ones. It adds a real richness to our lives.

We lost several family members in the past few years and hope to do a celebration of their lives in December, as our way of honoring their memories.

I think I’m getting my Mexican holidays mixed. I had been thinking Cinco De Mayo and Day of the dead came together. But my daughter tells me that is May 5th is Mexican Independence. I’m guessing from Spain. Settling the Americas robbed people of their original festivals and replaced them with the conquerors, so not sure how Independent that really is. But suppose the new ways could be considered improvement on human sacrifice practiced by indigenous tribes.
It’s interesting to me how this time of year manifests among so many different cultures in a similar manner.

Sukhmandir,
You are a bit confused about Mexican holidays – that’s ok, I’m completely clueless about Sikh holidays (though I have been learning about Sikhism through your site!). Just so you know, Mexican Independence Day is September 16, Cinco de Mayo is the anniversary of a military victory – not such a big deal in Mexico, but it’s been adopted in the U.S. as THE day to celebrate Mexican heritage. And Day of the Dead is celebrated from October 31st to November 2nd. I hope that clears things up a bit.

When my husband and I traveled, we often visited old cemeteries to read the inscriptions, which offered rich history of the area.

I knew of Day of the Dead, but didn’t know it originated in Mexico. What a loving look on the face of the woman lighting the candles.

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated quite a bit here in Southern California…not surprising! I love the artwork and skeleton figures connected with the holiday. And it’s a nice idea to celebrate the lives of our dearly departed loved ones by fixing their favorite foods and remembering their hobbies, pastimes and professions (i.e. a skeleton figurine playing a guitar). I feel it’s a very positive way of honoring the dead, rather than a solemn, “hush, hush” occasion.