Today Marilyn and I, along with our daughter Alicia and granddaughter Liliana met up with our youngest daughter Sarah, our son-in-law Tony and our 2nd granddaughter Josephine in Murphys California for a dia de los muertos festival. I think it’s a very good way to encourage my grandchildren in their Mexican heritage, since their fathers are both of Mexican descent. It was our first time participating in this Mexican tradition. We all had a lot of fun, with Lily and Josie dressed in traditional garb and make up.
The purpose of the tradition is to remember family and friends who have died and to erect “altars” or “ofrendas” with a picture or two, some candles, maybe some sweets and beverages and to help them on their journey to heaven and to CELEBRATE rather than mourn their passing from this world to the next.
The organizers of today’s event offered a table where any family who wanted to could erect an ofrenda and invite others to help them in their remembrances. We decided we would participate, so we spent the last week getting a few things together to celebrate both mine and Marilyn’s parents. It came out quite nicely, I think. We were one of only about 4 families who put pictures and other things on the “community table” and by far ours was the most elaborate.
The organizers also put out “sticky notes “ and pens so anyone who wanted to could write notes to their departed loved ones and leave them on the table in the hope that the rest of the community would pray for them as well.
By the end of the day there were about a hundred notes wishing well to numerous grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and even children who had passed away. It was quite moving. But the note that made me cry the most, not because it was written by my granddaughter Lily, but because of its selfless sentiment was the note that read: “I pray for people who have family that have died”.
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| Stopped for ice cream. Yum! |
A soon-to-be 10-year-old who instinctively understands and is a ‘card-carrying ‘ member of the Communion of Saints!
She understands, without really “knowing”, that one of the most important things we can do is pray for those who may be in purgatory waiting to be made ‘perfect’ so they can enter the gates of Heaven, so that those in Heaven will in return intercede for us to Christ and we may meet again in the Glory of the Father.
Way to go, Lily! “Oompah” loves you very much and is grateful you have my back when my time comes!
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