Fall Writing Frenzy 2021- Happy Fall! 

OFRENDA FOREVER By Steena Hernandez (197 words)

Dia de los Muertos picture #3

If I go, know that I’ll send my love.

I’ll find a way to get it to you.

I’ll push it through any dimension, and squeeze it through all realms.

No matter how far I may seem,

Gone—I’ll never be!

My love travels unafraid to the tip of eternity and back.

My love is forever.

Those are the words of mi papa, my father. Words that I never imagined would come true. And now, as I hand cut the papel picado for the altar, the tissue paper so delicate and thin like his last days. I call him.

Bright marigolds adorn the ofrenda, bursting with color and life, the way I will remember him. I call him.

Brimmed with his favorite foods—tamales filled with savory pork, the spicy aroma of albondigas soup filling the air, and always a frosty hibiscus soda. I call him.

Dia de los Muertos: I ask you to break through the thickest dimensions, the unthinkable realms, and touch the tip of eternity to bring his spirit back—even just for a moment.

Today is a celebration of your life. Julio, my father, I see you. I love you now, and forever!

Ofrenda and Dia de los Muertos Information-

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated November 1st & 2nd in Mexico, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. Ofrenda means offering in Spanish. The ofrenda is set on a home altar, and consists of favorite foods and beverages of loved ones who have passed. In hopes to honor and commemorate the deceased souls, they offer these goods to pay respect in a joyous, not mournful, remembrance.