TRAVEL MEMOIRS
Celebrating Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico
Replacing grief with celebration
When I stop to think about all the people I have lost in my life, I feel a profound sadness, an emptiness. I miss them terribly. The years pass, but it doesn’t make me miss them any less. My parents, some of my siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and friends. I have had a lot of loss in my life. It’s why I was obsessed with death when I was a young teenager.
While most kids were worrying about pimples and dating, I was trying to figure out what life was all about. Why did we have to die, and what happened to us after we took our last breath?
Different cultures though, have different beliefs and traditions when it comes to death.
In Mexico, they replace their sorrow with joy and celebration. For two days every year, at the beginning of November, the country celebrates Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). It’s a chance to remember and celebrate the lives of those we lost. They believe their loved one will return for a brief visit on this day. So they prepare a big welcome.
And I was all in.
