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On Día de los Muertos the Mission ‘remembers with beauty’

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Surrounded by altars, marigolds, and candlelight, Marco Ruiz stood out from the crowd. In lieu of an elaborate memorial, Ruiz simply hugged a large framed photo of his brother Martin, who had died two days after his 19th birthday.

Ruiz was stoic, taking in the scene. When asked about his brother, however, he smiled. 

“He thought he was the best dancer,” Marco grinned. In reality, “he was so bad — but he didn’t care.” After Martin was killed in a car accident years ago, 1,000 people attended the funeral, Marco added. Now, only the oldest kids remember him. 

On Día de los Muertos on Saturday, the Mission, like the Ruizes, was focused on celebrating the past. 

Potrero del Sol park filled with altars honoring pets, friends, teachers, children, grandparents, great-grandparents, and even strangers who have passed. Their loved ones reminisced, telling stories long past sundown to anyone who stopped by. 

A person in a beanie and scarf reads colorful tags hanging from a tree branch with flowers attached.
Notes written for communal altars will be taken to burning man. Photo on Nov. 2, 2024 by Abigail Van Neely.

Martin Ruiz, according to his brothers, was the goofy, sporty middle child. He never said no to babysitting his nieces and nephews — as long as there was pizza involved. They had their own language of inside jokes. 

The Ruizes once lived in the Mission. The siblings are graduates of Saint James Catholic school and, in the ’90s, their mom owned a taqueria and produce market near 22nd and Valencia streets. They moved away when the neighborhood began to gentrify, Marco said, but they returned on Saturday to celebrate Martin.

A man wearing a 49ers cap holds a framed photograph of another man in a park setting.
Marco Ruiz holds a portrait of his brother, Martin, who died in a car accident years ago. Photo on Nov. 2, 2024 by Abigail Van Neely.

“Sitting with grief and not being sad is a beautiful thing,” said Cindy Predock from the center of a communal altar organized by The Marigold Project

Above, notes handwritten by passersby fluttered in the breeze, clipped to string tied between three trees. The notes will later be burned in a Burning Man temple, Predock added. 



Source: missionlocal.org

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