Making a Home Altar
Traditional Day of the Dead celebrations honor and remember loved ones who have passed away and invite their spirits to visit.
Ofrendas, or offerings, arranged as an altar at home or at the burial site, are tangible representations of the life being remembered. Candles light a path for the spirit's return. Incense helps guide the way.
Flowers and Incense
Marigolds and other flowers represent life's fleeting nature; bread, water and other favorite drinks and food quench the appetite. Whimsical skeletons depict people in the afterlife still doing the things they once loved. Religious symbols and a portrait of the deceased figure prominently.
The Ofrendas built here borrow from that Mexican tradition and take some liberties. But building these altars -- of sifting through photos, of recalling good times and favorite things -- is an act of remembering. In that way, the intention of a traditional ofrenda remains true.
These pages honor the memory of three important women in my life.
Ruth Brooks
Ruth Keene Brooks, my grandmother, died last December at the age of 99. She was a strong, disciplined woman, who was at her most relaxed in the garden and among her animals. Pints of Haagen-Dazs ice cream kept her alive in her last few years. I miss her.
Lois McMillan
Lois Begun McMillan, my stepmother. She died of a brain tumor in 1972, leaving behind her 2-year-old son.Those of us who know and love her ache with wondering how our lives would have been different if she hadn't left so soon.
Copper Gillespie
Copper Gillespie, my best friend since childhood. Our intense friendship lasted through teen angst, budding careers and grown-up marriages. She died of breast cancer on her 38th birthday, leaving behind the two children she loved so fiercely.