#WHEN TO SET UP DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR HOW TO#
#WHEN TO SET UP DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR FULL#

It was the perfect time to tell stories and keep their memories alive. The cemetery would have many musical groups like mariachis available to provide a serenade. It became a family reunion where every member brought their chairs and food to share using the decorated headstones as a table. We would go to the cemetery and visit family members who had passed. When I was growing up in Mexico City, Dia de los Muertos was a sacred holiday tradition for me. I am the director and producer of one of the largest traditional Día de los Muertos celebrations in San Diego County. It’s a celebration to honor the dearly departed based on the belief that during this time the spirits of the departed return to visit the living. She lives in Bonita.ĭía de los Muertos - Day of the Dead - is rooted in centuries of Aztec culture. Originally published on November 2, 2013.McCarthy is executive director at La Vista Memorial Park and Mortuary.

#WHEN TO SET UP DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR HOW TO#

Here’s a quick breakdown on how to create your own altar at home and honor the ones that have passed away.

#WHEN TO SET UP DIA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR FULL#

The altar, full of color and life, helps us with this. Sometimes it’s hard to celebrate someone’s life when there is so much to miss. I’ll miss seeing it as much as I miss him. So it seems that this Day of the Dead brings me full circle with everything that has happened with the white truck. Later on, I also took the key to his truck. I wanted to physically have something of his wherever I went. When my dad passed away, I took his wallet and his watch home with me.

I hold on to it because it’s the only material thing that I have that my dad gave to my son. The red truck was purchased by my dad and gifted to my oldest son by him. I added the toy truck to the Dia de los Muertos altar this year and a gold watch that I took from his things after he passed away to add a more personal feeling to it. And although it’s not supposed to be a sad day, I found myself in tears after it was done. On our way home, I stopped by to pick up some marigolds and I put together the altar for him. It feels as though the last bit of him that tied us to him was gone. In return, he received $450 which he gave to my mom to help with the rent. My brother, without notifying anyone, had called the junk yard and had my dad’s truck picked up to be junked for parts. I visited my mom yesterday and she was in tears when she told me what had happened. Worse yet was the fact that my son would never receive what should have been his. It was a sad sight to see something that my dad had loved and cared for so much become nothing more than just something to keep a parking spot occupied. After he passed away, my younger brother took ownership of it (against my wishes) and basically let it get ruined. He took care of it more than anything else because he had said that one day he would leave it to my oldest son. My dad left one thing behind when he passed away – his beloved truck. Yesterday, I found out that my brother junked his truck. I had dreams that we were out together and wake up wondering if I did everything that I could to show him that I loved him. I was having a really hard time missing him. This year, I didn’t set up the altar until November 1st. I found myself setting up an altar so that I could have his spirit come into my home, even for just those two days. That was the year that my dad passed away unexpectedly. The altar sits atop a side table and is decorated with the traditional items found in an altar.Īlthough I didn’t grow up celebrating Dia de los Muertos, it became a celebration that I quickly picked up in 2009. So having said that, we don’t need a lot of space for it. We don’t have a lot of space in our home, and our Dia de los Muertos altar honors only my dad this year. I set up our Dia de los Muertos altar just in time, but wanted to share with you how we went about creating ours.

The Dia de los Muertos celebration started yesterday (November 1st) in the evening.

When to set up dia de los muertos altar