My Online Ofrenda on Dia de los Muertos

"Camaron que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente"

I decided to make this little online ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a largely Mexican and Mexican-American holiday that celebrates the dead and welcomes them home for the two-day period coinciding with All Saints' Day, today, and All Souls' Day, Wednesday. On this day, I (along with my mom and sisters) celebrate the life of Anastacio (Tacho) Reyes Medellin, Sr., my dad.

The "rule" for making ofrendas is that they should be designed with the one you're honoring in mind. Placing little objects, writing phrases and words, and other things that remind one of the honored should be included. So, I'll explain mine to all my readers:

At the top, one sees a couple of photos. One is of my dad. The other is my mom and dad. This photo is a reminder of how close they were--he even helped with the cooking! On the left are reminders of my dad's career as an owner/operator of Medellin's Texaco in Crystal City, TX. It had originally started as a Sinclair station. Of course, we see Popeye--the patron saint of Crystal City, aka--The Spinach Capital of the World. No, we weren't Spinach magnates, but my dad's family did spend a lot of time working the fields making money for them! The "Proud Texas Democrat" is a reminder of how staunch a Dem he was--pro-choice, pro-education, pro-woman, etc. One reminder that I missed was a TXDOT logo for his years working there as a roadman. He used to say, "I'll tell you why I'm voting for Ann Richards--she signs my checks!" Ann was State Treasurer at the time. The TBS and Braves logo is a reminder of both my dad's love of TV (he could spend an entire day watching it!!), as well as my dad's love for baseball; especially the Braves. You see, when our area started getting WTBS on cable, it had great comedy reruns and cowboy movies, and every single Braves game! My dad ended up being a huge Braves fan back in the days of Chris Chambliss and Dale Murphy. The last two pics on the bottom: one is a photo of a watering tank on a ranch in Zavala County. The other is a map of his birthplace, Cometa, TX. Cometa was a ranch outside of Crystal City where my dad's dad worked as a sharecropper (the link provides a history of the ranch, which was originally called Loma de Cometas Ranch (Hill of the Comets). Of course, if you read the history, there isn't much mention of the Medellin's or other Mexican family--they were only the help and we all know History from our perspective is usually never recorded.

Well, that's my ofrenda for Dia de los Muertos 2005. If I had taken the time to scan old photos and other reminders, it would have been 1000% better. But, as my dad used to say, "Algo es algo."