Thankful Thursday: Celebrating Día de los Muertos

Meows from Mudpie!

Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and by people of Mexican ancestry. The multi-day holiday (October 31-November 2) focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars, honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.

Colorful Day of the Dead statues can be easily found alongside Halloween decorations on store shelves, and over the past several years we've been adding many festive cat statues to add to our holiday decor.

They're displayed each year as part of our Truffles memorial area, but this year there's another addition to the table - my grandma's urn. 

It's no secret that my grandma adored cats as much as Mommy does, so when she came back home from the funeral home, there was no question about where her urn would go. Since February it's been right beside Truffles, and for the past 6 weeks they've been surrounded by our Day of the Dead cat collection. Nothing made her happier in life than being surrounded by cats, so we think she would be just delighted with this. 

Mommy didn't know how my grandpa would feel about this display because he wasn't familiar with Day of the Dead, but she explained it to him and several times since she's seen him stop at the table and look at it, smiling. So we think he approves.