Hanal Pixán...Dia de los Muertos...a Dad and a Mom

Celebrations marking Dia de los Muertos started with 57,000 people walking from the cemetery through our little neighborhood of LaErmita and ending up in the park of San Juan just a few blocks up the street from us through the arches. The Paseo de las Animas was on Friday, Oct. 27th about the time we were watching the Houston Astros win while sitting in a sports bar in Playa del Carmen. The parade was the first of several celebrations of death. There was a day to honor lost children. Next day, it was for adults followed by a day known as "All Soul's Day" on Nov. 2nd. There were altars filled with food and flowers, there were parades, and there were church services in the jardine. We saw school children carrying baskets of fruit and other goodies along with material to construct altars at school and feed the souls of the dead. Here in Mérida, they refer to it as Hanal  Pixán. If you don't speak Mayan, that translates to "meal for the souls". Here in the Yucatan, it's all about combining the Mayan traditions with the Catholic beliefs.

As for us, we wanted to come down here for Dia de los Muertos and for our own closure concerning the dead. We have accomplished getting closure. It all started back in the summer when I had hurriedly left out of Mérida on a Sunday during our last visit. Mom had been taken to the hospital where she had a second surgery due to her CHF. I almost didn't make it through the airport when I was called back to Customs due to a glitch and my own forgetfulness about exiting and re-entering the country when we went to Belize. I ended up giving them all the pesos and all the dollars I had to get to board the plane. I was crying when I rushed to board the plane, but the flight attendants gave me hugs and assured me all would be ok. I think I knew at that moment it wasn't. Upon arrival at IAH, I drove to the hospital in Temple that Sunday afternoon and spent the night in the room with Mom. On the following Monday in early afternoon, I received a call from Terry. His mom had called him to tell him his dad had died. That meant he was going through the emotions of losing his dad while alone and responsible for securing the house, paying bills and doing all the last-minute things we generally do before heading out. He spent that last night in Mérida alone before boarding a last-minute booked flight on United direct to IAH. He doesn't remember a lot of those last hours in Mérida. I drove to Kim's from Temple on Monday evening and Tuesday morning we were waiting at IAH for Terry. One parent was in the hospital while making funeral arrangements for another. We ended up saying good-bye this past summer to two parents - Terry's dad and my mom. Coming back to Mérida on this trip was for two reasons - to pay the fideicomiso at the bank and to give us some closure - to do some grieving and make sure we really did turn off the lights and lock the doors. It turned out we had a celebration of two lives lost because that's what you do during Dia de los Muertos. Being in Mexico helped us see death as a new beginning for those that pass on and it helped replace our feelings of grief and loss with joy as we realize our parents have gone on to a better place.