A little backstory on me. I have a strong affinity for animated entertainment. I saw Aladdin four times in a movie theater back in the 90's. I watched Blues Clues before I had kids. I have a Beaker plush doll on my dresser. I am not sure what my problem is, or even if it is a problem but...that's me.
Having kids has given me a pass to see all the latest animated flicks. During the summer, my family saw the Incredibles sequel, Hotel Transylvania 3 and the Winnie the Pooh movie. These were high priority viewings. My husband and I used to stay up to date on the movies in the running for an Oscar so we could vote among ourselves. Now the only category we recognize any movies in is Best Animated Feature.
This past year, I somehow missed the Coco train. This Disney Pixar movie came out in October of 2017 and the storyline dealt with the Day of the Dead celebration in Mexico. (I think all the animated skeletons in the previews may have put me off. As many of you may remember, I don't like scary things.) My interest was piqued though after a tune from the movie won Best Original Song during the 90th Academy Awards telecast in March. The movie itself was deemed Best Animated Feature Film.
When it appeared on Netflix in the spring, my youngest and I decided to watch it. I did not know what I was in for. It was the best animated movie I've seen in a while and I hold it to a high standard. Finding Nemo is probably my favorite movie of all time. Coco is right up there, really.
I didn't know much about the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration. I had seen news stories and photos and again it just seemed like a lot of skeletons and hanging out at cemeteries and because it was foreign to me, I thought it was a little strange. The movie does a lot to explain the whys of the celebration and how the Mexican people honor and remember their deceased loved ones at the end of October beginning of November each year.
The movie was also emotional for me. Yes, I seem to always cry during Disney movies. (You know it's bad when your kids watch you during sad parts of movies to see the tears start to flow almost on cue. At least my youngest will bring me a tissue.) I won't bore you with the details or spoil the movie for you, but there is a scene that was similar to something that happened to me with my grandfather when I was a little girl. Once the movie was over and I cleaned myself up I decided - we're doing it. This year we would have our own Day of the Dead.
Now I know I'm not Mexican and at first I think my family was like, "What?" But, I simply wanted to honor our family members who had passed on and teach my kids about those who came before them. I thought this tradition was a wonderful way to accomplish my desire. In the hectic day to day, we don't always have the time to share stories about grandparents or great grandparents who, in some cases, the kids never got to meet or were too little to remember, but our Day of the Dead would be a time to rectify that.
For us, we made a traditional 'ofrenda' or altar in our living room decorated with photos, flowers and special memorabilia of things our loved ones enjoyed in life. We had a bag of my mother-in-law's favorite snack, a small motorcycle in honor of my cousin, Jason, a record to celebrate my Pap Pap Bishop's love of music and a small Steelers jersey for my cousin Joe.
My husband and I took turns telling personal stories about each of our loved ones and our kids were able to ask questions. For dinner, we enjoyed Day of the Dead cinnamon bread and chicken soft tacos. We also listened to the Day of the Dead internet music station which made the dinner lively hearing upbeat Mexican mariachi music.
During the past couple weeks, it was nice to connect with out of town family members who helped me obtain the photos for our ofrenda. It was also nice to talk about our deceased loved ones in a happy setting, not dwelling on the loss, but focusing on their footprint on our lives. Because of the positive experience, my family has decided to make this an annual celebration. (I'm sure the tacos had something to do with this.)
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| My 'ofrenda' |
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