Thankful: Day One

Today I am grateful for Dia de los Muertos.

Yes, I know it was yesterday. I am still grateful for it today.

Dia de Los Muertos has always been just on the edge of my awareness. My senior year of college, I was a peer advisor for a Freshman Interest Group, and the faculty member I worked with wanted to take the students on a trip to a local art museum to see a Dia de Los Muertos exhibit.

I would definitely place this trip in my top five experiences of college. Since my mother passed away, I have dealt with a complex range of emotions about her death. Knowing that there is a holiday that is a celebration of the lives lived by those who have passed on has helped me come to terms with that loss, on a number of levels.

On a related note: Check out the new-ish film The Book of Life if you get a chance. It is based on the idea of Dia de los Muertos and is a lot of fun.