Dia de Los Muertos

“My family set up altars and decorated skulls of the people we want.. pretty much we’re inviting the good spirits into our house, kinda like having dinner with them! November 1st is for the children and November 2nd for adults.”

“Why do you guys have separate days for children and adults?”

“Why? uhh I’m not exactly sure. Oh November 1st is all saints day, so you now how children are innocent so it’s a religious holiday. The children celebrate with the innocent saints. And the adults.. they’re not innocent. They get their own day.”

This specific holiday/festival is pretty well known in Southern California. Residents here celebrate this day of the dead as well. However, what made this time different was what Griselda told me about there being separate days for children and adults. I have never heard of that before about Dia de Los Muertos, especially about the part about children being innocent so they celebrate during the first day when it is a religious holiday while the adults celebrate the next day because they are not so innocent. This is a tradition that Griselda had practiced her entire life; it is her life, so it meant a lot sharing this to me.

Griselda Vega is a 41 year old mother of two sons. She also works in the office with me. She was exceptionally excited to share with me her culture’s stories and traditions which made it exciting for me to interview her. Griselda was born in Mexico and lived there until the age of 20, when she moved to the United States. At the age of 21, she was employed, and she works at the same office since then.