Trinidad Scene Two

The day you understand the meaning of death, it is the day you begin living.

In Mexico, we don’t grieve death. On the contrary, we dance and sing to death.

Day of the Death is the most alive day in Mexico.

Day of the Death is the most Mexican day of all. I dare to say that even before celebrating the Independence or the Revolution; we celebrate death. No speeches are made, no public celebration is being held.

Day of the Death is when the Mexican laughs and mocks death. It is the day when you stare in its eyes and share a drink from a bottle of tequila or mezcal.

Cementeries in Michoacán and Oaxaca are filled with Cempatzuchitl flowers while candles light up the spaces between graves. These spaces are then filled with light that shows the dead the way to come back to their homes and share food and drinks that they enjoyed the most with their loved ones who are paying their annual visit.

Women, men, boys and girls stay awake on the night of November 1st and the morning of November 2nd. They stay close to their family’s graves waiting to see them one more time or remembering them through their most loved memories.

The children then run and stroll around through crosses and crowns asking for a treat or a coin for their calabacita (“little pumpkin”).

I have come to the conclusion that the day you understand the meaning of death, it is the day you begin living.

That same day is the day you understand how important every action is; how your story will be told to the ones that come after you, and what legacy you will leave behind.