Families celebrate Dia de los Muertos at Nuevo Memory Gardens

More than 120 families honored their departed loved ones during the two-day Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, celebration at Nuevo Memory Gardens cemetery in Ramona. 

The event, which has its roots in Mexico, is traditionally observed Nov. 1 and 2.

Families create offerings, called ofrendas, to honor their departed family members and friends. The offerings are often arranged on altars, or in the case of the cemetery, on grave markers, which are traditionally decorated with bright orange marigolds, symbolizing the beauty and fragility of life, as well as photos, memorabilia and favorite foods and drinks of the departed.

Patty Estrada, manager of the Ramona Cemetery District, invited residents and others with family buried at the cemetery to commemorate the tradition by decorating their family burial area. 

“When our loved ones die, they only fully go away if we forget them,” said Estrada. “We can still have events like this to honor them. Personally, it gives our families a way to get together for the day, to sit and eat and reminisce and remember those we’ve lost.”

Ramona resident Isellia Bates said she helped promote the tradition with her cousin, Ofelia Valdez, the previous year. 

“My cousin lost her daughter, and my brother passed away 13 years ago, and we wanted to do something local to celebrate,” Bates said. 

The first day of the event, Day of the Innocents, is traditionally held for children that have passed away. That is also the day a prayer walk, a spiritual procession combining prayer and meditation with walking, is held. 

“We have our rosary beads, and we stop at every 10 beads to sing,” said Bates, comparing the short songs to a Catholic hymn. “We start at the cemetery gates and go through the whole cemetery, and at the end, we have pastries and snacks and we hang out in our family’s area and talk and eat.”

The walkers are often dressed in traditional Mexican clothes and wear painted skeleton faces.

On the second day, Nov. 2, the lives of departed adults are honored. The ofrendas become more adult-oriented — beverages such as tequila and mezcal and foods take the place of children’s candies and snacks. 

“This year was beautiful and the cemetery was packed,” Bates said. “On Saturday, there was at least 50 people, and more than 75 on Sunday. The place looked beautiful.” 

Bates and her daughter, Lili, painted their faces as skeletons for the prayer walk.

The newest section of the cemetery had the most decorations, but Estrada noted there seemed to be more brightly colored floral arrangements across the grounds than had been seen in a while.

Dia de los Muertos celebrations were held last year, before Estrada was manager, but decorations had to be taken down the next day. 

“This year it was very different with the decorations left up all week,” she said. Families were set to return the weekend of the 8th to remove any remaining decor.

“It was really nice to see so many people participate. Folks have been stopping by all week to share their pictures and stories,” she said.

Bates plans to continue participating in the event for the foreseeable future.

“We would like to have it every year on Nov. 1, and we hope even more people join us,” she said.