By: Suri Perez
For as long as I can remember, Dia de los Muertos has been one of the many traditions I celebrate within my Mexican household. This is thanks to the lessons my mother and grandmother were taught when they were children back in Mexico. In my home, my family and I celebrate my great grandparents, uncles, and babies on this day. To me, celebrating my great grandparents is truly special. My grandmother’s parents, Casimiro Ocotecatl and Celestina Garcia, were from a small village in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Like many back in the 1930s, they got married, had children, and later grandchildren; of course as time went by their family grew and grew. My great grandmother was a stay-at-home mom who dedicated her time to take care of her children and husband. She was a calm woman and very caring. Meanwhile, my great grandfather would work in fields day in and day out. He was a strict man who never liked the idea of not doing anything. My great grandparents would teach their children the values of being a good person in this world and to work for the things you want. I didn’t get to meet my great grandfather, who had passed away before I was born; however, I did visit my great grandmother in Mexico when I was only 4. She was the nicest person I had met and she showed me a sense of kindness no one else has shown me before. Although I wasn’t there most of their lives, I know them very well thanks to all the stories my grandmother shares with me. One of my biggest role models is my grandmother and she always tells me, “I wouldn’t be who I am today without my parents.” My great grandparents were not rich – they indeed suffered a lot – but in the end they always did everything in their power to raise good and hardworking children. Today my grandmother is the result of all the things my great grandparents were once. Thanks to them I have someone to look up to and learn so much from. I celebrate them and all the things they did in this holiday. I will forever look up to them and continue to practice the same values they would teach their own kids.
By: Vivianna Juarez
On this Dia de los Muertos, I would like to make a tribute to my grandmother who passed away in July of 2021. My abuelita Maribel was a hard-working, kind and thoughtful woman. She spent her whole life living in Mexico caring for her family of six. My abuelita loved to make food for everyone and host dinners in her home. She loved to make other people happy. I remember every time I would go to visit her in Mexico she always had a heartwarming smile that filled any room with love. She knew I had the biggest sweet tooth, so she would also always have candy for me, which always made me feel so loved. Although in her last days she was going through so much due to heart dialysis, she never failed to have hope and I think that defines so much of her as a woman. She suffered from diabetes which then led her to heart surgery. This woman never showed weakness even though it was a long and hard journey. She inspired me to never give up and always have hope. Nice Even when I feel little and powerless she reminds me we all have a purpose and are meant to have dreams for a reason. Before she passed away I remember her telling me to always have faith in God, which is something I keep close to my heart today and tell myself whenever I feel hopeless. The reason I keep going is for my abuelita, whom I hope I’m making proud.
