Dia de los Muertos

We celebrated Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) last night. I think its pretty funny that we have to make a concious choice to expose Sophia to Mexican culture. I bet my parents never thought twice about my cultural identity. Everything we did exposed me to Mexican identity. I am afraid that I am going to overcompensate and force all this Chicano thought and identity on Sophia and she will rebel against it. See she is half Mexican (from me) 1/4 white and 1/4 Spanish. I know you all thought Joey was Mexican, but he claims to be 1/2 Spanish. He really is 1/2 white. I have met his Mom. My kid is a mixed breed and has a choice on what she chooses to embrace as her identity. Since I have always swaed toward white guys I figuered this would be something that I will have to deal with. I see these people out there who are so ashamed of being Mexican and I never ever want Sophia to have to feel that way. I grew up in a town where everyone was brown. Not being Mexican made you different. I went to college and studied Chicano Studies and worked with Hermanas Unidas and both things made me even prouder of my brown skin. I want to expose Sophia to as much as possible, from all cultures. Anyways..........back to Dia de los Muertos. We made an alter for Sophia great-grandfather who passed away from a stroke many years ago. We laid out his navy jacket and the cover from the book he wrote called "Dibs on the Core". We put an apple for his childhood days during the depression in Michigan. We even snuck a ciagrette under his sleeve, just like he use to sneak them. We put some flowers and lit a Virgen candle. After we made our alter Joey told us some stories about Grandpa Watt. I hope we can keep this tradition up every year.