Today begins Día de los Muertos. What are your rituals or occasions when you remember loved ones you have lost?
This really bugs me. A lot. Offensively.
This is NOT my holiday. I understand, respect and find the day and the traditions fascinating. I celebrate as a human on the planet all the variety and color of human culture... I dig the idea of this day, and I am moved beyond words when I witness the practices.
but this is NOT my "tradition" and it's not the day I choose to remember my loved ones. To do so, I think, would be cultural misappropriation and an affront to my comadres and compadres.
And my loved ones are freshly lost, so this comes as a little slap to me. To make it a little "cute" QotD prompt belittles the grief process, and the very serious side of honoring the dead (and fearing them - giving them the day to walk the earth, placating them and then sending them back to the other side).
(and my response to this reminds me that I'm going to be writing a cross-cultural novel this month, so these are issues worth the energy and word count of this post.)