“No one is dead as long as he is remembered.”

I promised my readers and viewer’s that I would share with you how my family’s Day of the Dead altar turned out. So here it is.

Our little altar turned out beautiful and special to us. My mom and both of my sister’s helped me look through old photographs to place on the altar.

Nov 1st is the remembrance celebration for all the babies and children who have died, and Nov 2nd is the remembrance day of the adults we loved who also had to leave us too soon.

It is believed that as long as we keep on remembering our loved ones after their death, they will NOT be forgotten. Thus they live on in spirit.

It’s important for Mexicans, Chicanos, and many others to have this celebration of their loved ones, to celebrate the life their loved one’s lived, their remebrance after death and, the praying and celebrating of their after life. Because forgetting our loved ones, is the only way they would truly “die”.

We didn’t have the three tiers this year. I didn’t have boxes or crates to create the tiers. Now that we have a better idea of how it’s supposed to be, maybe next year we can do the three tiers.

Below is a basic description of what the three tiers are supposed to consist of.

Traditional Day of The Dead altars:

• TIER ONE: Religious Items
• TIER TWO: Photo of your deceased loved ones
• TIER THREE: Skulls, Skeletons, Day of the Dead figurines and others of the like

Below is a video of what my family’s altars end result was. We found photos of my dad, both his parents, and some of his siblings (my abuelos/grandparents, tia/aunt, and tios/uncles, who all preceded my dad in death. We also found pictures of other friends and family that have gone on.

On our altar we put all of my dad’s favorite fruits, foods, candy, and sweets including pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread) and his favorite drinks.

We put his favorite candy on the altar along with some of his favorite traditional Mexican candy.

Fruits that my papi loved; oranges, watermelon, and bananas were also placed there for him.

Main dishes my papi loved in life, like tamales, frijoles(beans), costillas (ribs)and more, were prepared for him. Along with papi’s favorite drinks; water, coffee, and Coca-Cola.

Here are the videos of what our altar looked like for Dia de los Muertos 2017:

My baby sister recorded it Live on Facebook. Click the link below to see how it turned out.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1989759831313209&id=100008376331887

More quick videos and photographs below.

We also painted our faces just for fun.

The next day we redecorated papi’s grave with fall bouquets and flowers.

I hope you all learned some new things, I know that I have. My family learned along with me.

It was so nice to be there with my family during Dia de los Muertos this year.

Last year I created an altar here in Fort Worth,Texas, but it was not the same. It was a vastly different experience with my family and actually spending it with my papi too.

It is so ironic that the graveyard is such a peaceful and joyful place. It’s pleasant to sit and watch our children play with the toys we leave on papi’s grave.

And even though my brother couldn’t be there with us because he works out of town he was with us in heart and spirit. My brother left his ballcap on papi’s grave during one of his own prior visits to papi’s grave, so I felt like he was there with us too.

Thanks for letting me share my experience with you. And allowing me to talk about my papi, again!

He deserves to be remembered!

🤠🐎Jose Guadalupe Montalvo 🤠🐎

Photo Credits: Deanna G. Montalvo

Quote Taken From: McKenzie, E.C. 14,000 Quips & Quotes for Writers &Speakers Baker Book House Company, 1980.