Re: [ranchos] Re: Margarita's rememberance of Jerez, Zacatecas

[Carol Lester <NanaCarolL@...>]

I had to chuckle, a little, when I was reading these two stories about your Dads'  and their disinterest in returning to a gravesite of loved ones.  As you all know, my mother was English/Irish.  My Mother also believed in not returning to where the dead were buried.  I once asked her why she would not visit any of our families gravesites to plant flowers, etc;...her response was, "Why?...they are not there; the next time I see them I will join them in Heaven!"  Needless to say, that was the END of that conversation!  It just goes to show, our ancestors of old had shared some very common beliefs, no matter what continent they were born!  haha!

Carol Lester

-----Original Message-----
From: readysetgo95814 <nena@...>
Sent: Jul 2, 2005 2:24 AM
To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ranchos] Re: Margarita's rememberance of Jerez, Zacatecas

Wow Irma, your Dad sounds just like mine.  The last time I went to 
San Nicolas with him I asked about going to the cemetery where my 
grandfather is buried and he had no interest in doing that. He asked 
me why I wanted to go.  I explained to him that I might find some 
valuable genealogical information there.  He said there were not many 
headstones and there were mostly wooden crosses on otherwise unmarked 
graves.  I still would like to go and see for myself and plan do so 
sometime in the future.

I also asked him about dia de los Muertos and why we were never told 
about or practiced the custom. He replied that he never did either. 
When I asked him what my grandparents did to honor the dead he told 
me that they prayed the Rosary.  Now that I am researching our 
genealogy and have found that for the last 300 to 500 years our 
ancestors were Catholic I understand the reason.

Maria

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Irma GomezLucero <igomezlucero@c...> 
wrote:
> I envy you Linda.  I tried to get my dad and family in Mexico to 
take me to
> the cemetery where my grandmother was buried.  My dad interrupted 
and
> refused to take me there.  His response was, "Why do you want to go 
to a
> place where everyone is dead when you have all of these live 
relatives?"
> Okay how do you respond when your "live" relatives are staring at 
you.
> Enjoying history, I have always "enjoyed" going to cemeteries 
because there
> is so much history there.  No, I don't like funerals though.  Next 
time I
> will go on my own even if I have to walk there.
> Along the same vein...  a few years ago, I was asked to do a 
cultural
> presentation of sorts to my daughter's class around Halloween.  I 
decided to
> build "un altar" for El Dia de los Muertos.  When I asked my 
parents about
> this custom, they said, " We don't do that.   Once we bury our 
dead, we go
> to church have Masses said for them, pray for them, but we don't 
hang out at
> cemeteries."  I actually had to do research on the custom which 
more a
> combination of Indigenous beliefs coupled with Catholocism.  I felt 
this was
> a wonderful way to honor your family which has passed away.  I 
built an
> "altar" to my grandparents.  I had my daughter explain what every 
item meant
> to my grandparents.  Her classmates were surprised to find out that 
she had
> never met my abuelitos.  My goal was to remind these children to 
talk to
> their grandparents, ask them questions about themselves, etc., 
before it was
> too late.  It was an awsome experience for all.
> Tonight I will see my folks, and plan to ask them more about 
cemeteries in
> Mexico.  I didn't know they buried individuals on top of others.  
Yep, I
> have more homework to do before I visit the cemeteries in Mexico. 
> Irma
>  
> 
>   _____  
> 
> From: Erlinda Castanon-Long [mailto:longsjourney@y...] 
> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 10:13 AM
> To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [ranchos] Margarita's rememberance of Jerez, Zacatecas
> 
> 
> The whole idea of death in the District of Jerez is different than 
here
> stateside.  I wanted to visit all the cemeteries I'd found in the 
research
> records.  Our host could not understand my desire to go to 
cemeteries, he
> said the past was the past!  He did take us to the cemetery in Los 
Aros/Los
> Haros, I found all the names I have been researching clear back to 
the
> 1750's.  One could almost feel the ancestors... I also went to the 
cemetery
> in El Durazno.  They absolutely refused to take me to Panteon de 
los Dolores
> in Jerez, they said enough was enough...
>  
>  I did notice in Jerez that coffins are sold in shops that display 
them in
> the window, that was kinda shocking to me. They said when someone 
dies they
> have to be buried within 24 hours since they don't embalm.  In El 
Durazno
> they have the "viewing" in the home then go to the church for the 
service
> and then carry the coffin on their shoulders,complete with 
Mariachi's if
> they can afford them, and walk the 1/2 mile to the cemetery in a 
procession.
> I found lots of huge marble monuments but all cemeteries were badly
> neglected because they don't like to go their unless it's to bury 
someone..
> they do not go to visit and pay respects. Everyone in El Durazno 
paid for
> the land for a cemetery 20 years ago and when a family member  dies 
they are
> "prepaid" for burial.
>  
> The burial practices were different in the old days too.  They 
would put up
> to 5 people in each grave, removing the bones to the foot of the 
grave and
> then putting the new 'box' as it was described to me... I was 
standing over
> a neglected Alcala grave and noticed something round so I bent over 
to pick
> it up, turned out to be a leg bone much to my surprise.. After 
getting over
> the shock I moved some dirt, reburied the bone and said a prayer 
for the
> ancestors and me!
> I would highly recommend visiting an ancestral homesite if it's ever
> possible, it's very humbling and highly emotional to walk the 
ground your
> ancestors lived on.
> Linda
> 





 
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