Anipal Photo Hunt #12: All Souls' Day

November 2nd is All Souls' Day, Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos. This is the day that many people, including me and my mom, celebrate our loved ones who have passed on.
Mom just took this pic of our 'altar.' It's really just the book case and not everyone we're remembering and saying a prayer for is there, but here it is.

 Left to right are Marrakesh, my mom's first and only dog. He was a border collie she got when she was in Junior High. He was a wonderful dog and went everywhere with her. This was in the '70s so they even hitch-hiked together! (Mom was a hippie.) He was named after the song "Marrakesh Express" by Crosby, Stills & Nash. He finally went to the Rainbow Bridge when he was seventeen. Good dog. 

In front of Marrakesh is a wooden box. It, and the things in it, belonged to Dad's brother, Chris. He passed away on September 11th of this year. It was very, very sad. He was only 49 years old, his illness was quick and his passing unexpected. Dad is still having a hard time missing his brother.

Next is Mom's Grandma Hazel. She was her Dad's Mom. Her Grandpa Doug should be here too but she couldn't find a pic of him tonight. She was very pretty and was a wardrobe mistress in the movies. Grandpa Doug was an accountant at NBC studios, but Mom remembers mostly that he played golf and let her wash the golf balls in the automatic washer thingy and drive the golf cart, and he polished stones to make jewelry.

To the right of Grandma Hazel is Wynnie Cat Princess Kitten. I still miss her very much. I still look for her once in a while. Last night Mom thought she felt her jump on the bed. She went to the RB in June. There are lots of posts about Wynnie in this blog. Wynnie's ashes are in the brown box behind her little framed photo. It has a Hopi Kachina on top of it.

On the right side is a photograph of Mom's Grandparents, Marie and Justus. She used to call them Nanny Ree and Papa. Marie was from Denmark and Justus was from Sweden. They met on a farm they were both working on in Iowa, got married, and bought their own farm. Eventually they moved to California. 

Mom's Uncle Lyle is also in that Photo. He died when he was 33. He was born with a hole in his heart because Marie had a flu vaccine during the time when the flu was killing lots of people. She was pregnant but they didn't know until later that the shot could cause birth defects. Lyle was very sick his whole life but he was really nice and never complained about anything. Mom's Uncle Bob is in the pic, too, to the left of Marie, but he's not dead. Mom spent a lot of time with Marie and Papa and loved them and misses them very much. 

Lump and Cheyenne and Sheba and Miles are Mom's kitties who are not on the altar, but they were also wonderful kitties who all lived between 17 and 21 years, and were all very much loved.

So that's my All Souls' post.