In my Mexican-American family we celebrate every holiday and occasion we can think of; birthday celebration last at least a week, all holidays are celebrated. The US holidays and Mexican holidays, which include religious holidays, and on November 2nd we celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have passed.

Day of the Dead or Dia de Los Muertos, is the day we pay tribute to our beloved ancestors. We create an altar in their honor, decorated and embellished with items which represent what they enjoyed doing, foods they relished eating and other symbolic nourishment like, water, beans, salt, and sugar skulls. The celebration is based on the belief that our dearly departed will pay us a spiritual. The flowers, food and aromatic scents which we have laid out for them, will guide them back to us. We also adorn the altar with pictures of our dearest departed and other skeletal and floral motifs, which are there to remind us that death is not meant to be the end of life.  

Since we also celebrate Halloween and the two are close together, we light the altar on October 31st.  Mexican stew, Pozole, is my go-to for this holiday. It's spicy, rich and satisfying on a cool evening. And, you make it ahead, then let it sit in the pot and simmer, while guests serve themselves. I have fond memories of making this soup and eating it in my grandmother's kitchen while she was rolling out fresh tortillas. After the Pozole, Mexican hot chocolate and Pan de Muerto, a special sweet bread baked with bone-like decorations, round out the tradition. It's fun and festive, but also nostalgic and bittersweet. 

I hope our beloved dead are grateful that we enjoy each other today while we reminisce their past and weave our colorful memories of their influence into the zarape, a colorful woven blanket, of our present relationships and celebrations.