FULLERTON : Day of Dead Lesson Is Steeped in Tradition

Four-year-old Karla Guadarrama stared wide-eyed at the colorful altar filled with pan dulce, calabaza with rice and corn, and skeleton-shaped sugar candy.

The altar, set up in the Maple Community Center as part of a lesson on the traditional Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), taught Karla and dozens of other children the meaning of the event.

Maria de la Luz (Lucy Ruiz) Millan, one of about 25 parents of the center’s mostly Latino preschoolers, erected the exhibit similar to those in the homes and at the grave sites of millions of Mexican families.

“We build altars with flowers and make offrendas (offerings) for our dead,” she explained.

The exhibit includes an arch made of yellow and orange crepe marigolds, special sweet bread, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, candles and other traditional items. It is on display in the center where Millan and other parents are teaching Dia de Los Muertos is celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2 in remembrance of deceased loved ones.

“We don’t see death as the end of life,” Millan said. “It may be the end physically but not spiritually. We believe that the spirit of our beloved deceased is still alive and still with us so, for us, death is a celebration.”

She told dozens of students that the altars contain the favorite foods, clothes and toys of the dead so that when their spirits come to earth on Dia de los Muertos, they will know where to go. “And we use candles to light the path,” Millan said.

“The dead are alive,” said Karla, who listened intently to Millan’s presentation.

George Carrillo, Maple’s PTA president, said: “The majority of the students here are (Mexican American) and we’re just trying to let them know about this age-old custom that is so representative of the culture that there’s no reason to deny it. This is a very important tradition that should be remembered and practiced with love.”