It’s the day after Halloween which means it is the first day of the two day holiday where we celebrate the dead in Mexico for Dia de los Muertos.  This holiday gives us an opportunity to honor our deceased loved ones. First we honor the children on November 1st then on November 2nd we honor the adults.

My family has been pretty fortunate in that we have not lost many close relatives.  As fate would have it, my paternal grandfather died on November 1, 2007 to cancer.  It was the first time someone close to me had died.  I helped my aunts make the  burial arrangements and was able to help write his eulogy.   I didn’t know nearly enough about him to honor him properly so I started interviewing my aunts and dad to find out more including how he got his blue eyes and fair skin. I learned so much about him that I didn’t know that I almost felt cheated of not knowing him enough.

On days like today, I can take a moment to celebrate him and his life.  While the traditional way to celebrate Dia de los Muertos includes preparing an alter with your deceased loved ones’ photos, preparing a special meal, and a drink to toast the family, we usually keep it pretty simple in our home. This week we took a moment to talk about my grandfather.  The kids shared the little memories they have of him. Tonight we’ll watch a video one of my cousins put together with many beautiful photos of his life.

This is how we celebrate dia de los Muertos, how do you celebrate it? 

For a beautiful video describing the holiday, please check out this video by Muy Beuno, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It is simply beautiful!