Legacy MattersMotherPie has the post I would have written today only she did it better.
Death in the U.S. is full of euphemisms. Passing On. Bit the Dust. Gone Home. Six Feet Under. Perpetual Rest. We tippy-toe around the subject.
Mexicans don't. Nobel literature prize winner Octavio Paz observed that Mexicans are not daunted by death. Rather, they play with it as a personal and cultural idea. The Mexican, he says, "...chases after it, mocks it, courts it, hugs it, sleeps with it; it is his favorite plaything and his most lasting love."
All Saints and All Souls Days (November 1 & 2) are marked with celebrations in Mexico -- the most popular holiday in the country. Patzcuaro is noted especially for the elaborate traditions of preparing feasts for the dead and celebrating in the cemetery. The culture mocks death and its power while also celebrating and remembering those who have died with graveyard rituals, many with music and picnics on the grave, and altars to the dead at home and meals cooked to honor the dead with the favorite foods of the deceased.