Dia de los Muertos: Day of remembering loved ones
Dia de los Muertos
Mila Johnson, 3, of Tempe, watches the festivities of the 32nd Annual Dia de los Muertos celebration from the view of her uncle, Joseph Mestaz’s shoulders at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix on Sunday. Mila and her uncle were among about 4,000 people who attended the event, which was marked by a procession, mariachi music, fire breathers and lighting a candle to remember loved ones who have passed on. (Tribune photo, Mike Sakal)
Mike Sakal
Mike Sakal’s column runs on Fridays. Contact him at (480) 898-6533 or msakal@evtrib.com, or write to Mike Sakal, East Valley Tribune, 1620 W. Fountainhead Pkwy., Suite 219, Tempe, AZ 85282
Dia de los Mertos
Irma Aguilar of Chandler (right) admires the make-up job she did on her daughter, Abriana, 9 (left) for the 32nd Annual Dia de los Muertos celebration at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix on Sunday. Aguilar’s family was among about 4,000 people who attended the “Day of the Dead” event which is equivalent to the Memorial Day holiday in in Mexico. This year marked the 10th year the Dia de los Muertos celebration was held at the Desert Botanical Garden. (Tribune photo, Mike Sakal)
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Leon Ceniceros posted at 7:10 pm on Mon, Nov 5, 2012.
The Feast of All Souls' Day, when I grew up, was a solemn day of remembrance...not the "gringo-ized" freak show it has become. In the Chicano Barrios of South-Central Los Angeles, most of the 1st or 2nd or 3rd Generation Chicanos went to a Requiem Mass (I know, I was an altar boy as were both my brothers) with a Benediction at the end. Luckily, I was tall and held the Cross while my poor buddy, Claude, swung the incensor back and forth, back and forth. Talk about asbestos in your lungs, old altar boys must have a 1/2 pound of incense ash in theirs. Everybody was still "holy" after going to Confession before All Saints Day (mandatory Mass attendance or a mortal sin) so Communion was a given.
The Chicanos living in the East Los Angeles Barrio were mostly from Central Mexico so they celebrated it with the skulls and all the weird stuff. Us South-Central LA Chicanos are mostly Nortenos (Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango States) and were more circumspect. Mostly everybody who could go to the Cemetery went to clean up the Graves, get rid of weeds, wash the headstone, put a blue enameled cup of champurrado and an enameld small plate with some pan dulce, a small candle was lite and if the deceased was a man, a shot glass of whisky or brandy. If the grave was for a woman, then some pretty flowers. The family would kneel and say a rosary. No face paint, nothing joyous. It was a day of sadness not a day to carry on.