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Day of the Dead
Filed under: Activities: Babies, Places To Go, Development/Milestones: Babies, Alcohol & Drugs
Today marks the last part of of Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration. Unlike Halloween, where the emphasis is on the scariness, ghosts, and skeletons, Day of the Dead is joyous. Death is considered the start of a new phase, rather than an ending.
Grave sites are cleaned up and decorated with flowers, mainly with marigolds as they are considered the flower of the dead, because the flowers die so quickly after being picked. Families spend time in the cemetery visiting and sharing stories about their loved ones.
While we've never had the opportunity to participate in any Day of the Dead celebrations, we have taken many family walks through cemeteries and even visited a Confederate and Union on an Arkansas trip. (The Union one was much nicer and in a better location.)
Once you get past the creeps, cemeteries are fascinating and peaceful places to visit. The older headstones are very artistic with ornate carvings, amazing fonts, elaborate sculptures and interesting messages that are no longer used on modern markers. It can even be a learning opportunity with younger kids pointing out the letters they recognize and older ones choosing a name to research later.
Have you ever celebrated Day of the Dead or just explored a cemetery with your kids?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
11-02-2007 @ 7:47PM
Cathy said...I guess it's just a Southern thing, but we gather in cemeteries once a year with the extended family to put flowers on graves, talk and just catch up with each other. After a lifetime of it, I find cemeteries calm, peaceful and not the least bit creepy. Funeral homes on the other hand, are suffocating and depressing.
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11-02-2007 @ 10:45PM
Ann Adams said...Cathy beat me to it. When I lived in Arkansas back in the 70's, Decoration Day was an event. The gravesites (often on the same grounds as the church) were cleaned up and decorated. With many, the Sunday service was held out of doors followed by a pot luck in the afternoon. We all outdid ourselves cooking of course.
Sometimes it was the only time in the year families saw each other.
From what I've heard from online friends, it's still happening back there.
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11-03-2007 @ 10:14AM
Joy said...I love to walk through cemeteries. I always have. I like looking at the stones and names and wonder about the people there. It amazes me how much younger people died many years ago. Many years ago I used to go with my grandma as part of a womans group who would clean up the graveyard.
I agree with Cathy though about funeral homes. They are creepy.
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