Who are the people whose lives made ours possible? What do we carry forward from them? How do we keep relationships with the dead alive through memory, story, ritual and love? While honoring the dead is a universal human experience, the specific rituals and imagery of the Day of the Dead originated with Mesoamerican groups Indigenous to Mexico.  We will transform our altar into an ofrenda, traditionally a space created to remember and honor deceased loved ones. We invite adults and children to contribute:

a photograph (small frame perhaps) of a loved one who has died

a small object that reminds you of that person or the name written on a card

a favorite recipe, a written memory, or story, perhaps of quality you carry forward

Kim Bywater is a longtime UUUtica member and a retired occupational therapist. Drawn in by the many religious symbols she saw at this church on her first visit, Kim found her spiritual home here and never left.