DIA DE LOS MUERTOS..........It's a big thing in Mexico and it has being growing inside the united states. The town where I was born and raised part of my life is named Armeria. Is a small town in the state of Colima that has grown over the years. It's near the ocean, about 4 miles. I lived in a two room house with a kitchen. Which is still standing. My sister, her husband and three son's live there now.
Across the road from my house is a cemetery. It sounds scary. And it was to live there. All the creepy sound and the scary stories that people told still remain in my memory without fading away. As a little kid I know think and remember how much that affected me growing up. But I don't want to talk about that. I want to write about the tradition of el dia de los muertos as I remember it.
One of the things people did on Dia de los Muertos was they would visit the burial ground of their dead. Painted faces holding candles would traffic all around the cemetery. Holding lit up candles to certain saints to watch over the souls of their dead. It's a tradition to clean around the burial site. And to water the lose dirt that lays ontop of it. Leaving fresh flowers and a veladora with a picture of a certain saint. For us kids Dia de los Muertos meant making money. People would pay us to clean the burial site. And carry full buckets of water to that site. We would use the money to buy churros and atole that old ladies would sell at the entrance of the cemetery. It's a rich tradition.
My grandpa died two years ago. That's one of the reason I was thinking about that. I was 8 and a half years old the last time I saw Papa Adrian. The only grandparent I ever knew. The reason was that my mom had me when she was 39. By that time both my dad's parents and my mom's mom had died. So, I'm glad I got to know my grandpa for at least 8 1/2 years. I didn't live near him or see him all the time. I saw him at least 2 times a year. The times I saw him were good. Papa Adrian grew corn up in the mountains where him and his wife Eluteria lived. He did that to survive. He also had some cows and donkeys. I remember going out with him to the corn fields to help him pick corn. I remember him having a good sense of humor. Always joking around. And people liking him.
He always had some to say to me. Always a hard worker. He chopped(sp?) wood everyday and was a good dancer. He sung and played in a mariachi band him and his old friends had. I guess that's where my mom gets her singing side from.
Before crossing la frontera my mom and I left Colima and went to Michoacan on a road trip. We stayed with my grandpa and Eluteria for a week. I can't remeber much of what i did execept help Eluteria and i going up the river that flowed near their shack and get water from a water hole. It was up stream near a tree that stood by the river. I don't remember saying good bye to him or Eluteria. I guess I didn't realize that i was leaving Mexico. After we visited with Papa Adrian we went to say good bye to the rest of my mom's family.
Too many to name. That was the last time I saw Papa Adrian in person. I miss him sometimes. Especially when my friends tell me about their grandparents. I pray that God will allow me to have children and let my parents live long enough for my children to enjoy their grandparents.