On Friday evening the sky was cloudy and the sun was setting earlier than usual outside at Restlawn Memory Gardens and Funeral Home. But it was Día de los Muertos, so despite the gloom the place was teeming with life, vibrant colors and mariachi music in celebration and remembrance of dead loved ones. The funeral home parking lot was set up with food stalls selling autumn classics like tamales and champurrado, and inside, dozens mingled and checked out a number of vendor stalls selling local Mexican art as a live band played music. Many in attendance were from the Hispanic and Latino community but many others came to learn about the holiday and tradition and way of understanding death. In the funeral home’s chapel a multi-tiered ofrenda was set up in the middle of the room decorated with photos, marigold flowers, candles, calaveras, artistic figurines depicting the dead, and baskets of fresh pan de muerto. The holiday, typically celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, is rooted in the ancient Mexican custom of celebrating life and honoring relatives and loved ones who are no longer in this world. During the holiday, people who celebrate build and decorate an ofrenda in their homes with everything their loved ones enjoyed during their time among the living in preparation for their brief return.   On Friday Bianca and Yarely Brambila and Yadira Estrada placed a photo and some Sinaloa-style tamales on the large, ornately decorated ofrenda in the chapel in honor and remembrance of Maria Brambila Pelayo of Salem.  Brambila Pelayo is Bianca and Yarely Brambila’s mother and Estrada’s best friend. She died from leukemia on May 30, Bianca Brambila said during an interview conducted in Spanish.  “It’s an opportunity to celebrate the life she had here,” Brambila said of Friday’s celebration. “I imagine her spirit celebrating and dancing and listening to the mariachi music that she loved so much. And eating with all of us.” Brambila said her mother came to the United States from Guadalajara when she was 21 and was married for over 30 years. She worked for many years taking care of children and was always seeking to help others, Brambila said.  Estrada started tearing up as she spoke about Brambila Pelayo. Moments before, Estrada placed a framed photo of her best friend on the ofrenda and took some time to admire its beauty.  Estrada said Brambila Pelayo’s service was held at Restlawn, where she was buried.  “It makes me really happy to know that they have these celebrations here because (Dia de los Muertos) isn’t from here. From this country,” Estrada said. “But it’s great. Because we always remember (the loved ones who have died), every single day, and that helps us keep going.”  Yarely Brambila, left, Bianca Brambila, center, and Yadira Estrada, right, decorate the ofrenda set up at the Dia de Los Muertos event at Restlawn Memory Gardens and Funeral Home in the honor and remembrance of Maria Bramble Pelayo. (Joe Siess/Salem Reporter) Elizabeth Johnson, the general manager and licensed funeral director at Restlawn said the funeral home plans to have the event every year after starting in 2023.  She said the event’s first year brought out about 500 people. This year, Johnson said, the turnout was only slightly less. She said the event is well attended by both members of the Hispanic community, and others who are curious about the tradition.  “In America it is a death-denying culture where it is hard to talk about death because it often triggers a lot of negative emotions and it upsets a lot of people. We want to make sure that it is viewed as a time we can celebrate that person rather than look at it as a negative thing,” Johnson said. “Of course you are going to miss them. That is a natural thing. That just means you love them. It is just a way for us to say this is a safe space for you to do that and we are here to support you through that process.”  Johnson said she views the event as a celebration of family more than anything else. That was evident as multiple generations of family members shuffled around the funeral home, and the many food carts outside. A group of young children enjoyed a private screening of the movie “Coco,” a heartwarming film depicting the traditions and meanings of Día de los Muertos.  Maria Guadalupe Piñon of Tigard was vibrantly dressed in Día de los Muertos themed clothing. Piñon was at the event representing her vendor booth, Artesanías Lupita, selling handmade Mexican artwork.  Piñon said during an interview conducted in Spanish that she was also celebrating the life of her father, Antonio Piñon, this holiday season. At home, Piñon said she had an ofrenda for her father set up for his arrival.  “I always put what he liked in life. What he ate in life. For example he always ate a banana or a plantain with a glass of milk after breakfast and dinner. A corn tamale, which was a favorite. This is what I put on the ofrenda,” Piñon said. “A path of cempasúchil flowers (marigolds) laid down to guide him, and a glass of water to help quench his thirst when he comes to visit us.”  Piñon said she used to be afraid of death when she was younger, but that all changed now that she has loved ones to remember on Día de los Muertos.  She said anybody who wants a crash course in what the holiday is all about should watch “Coco.”  “When your mother or father or a relative dies (Día de los Muertos) makes you feel peaceful and happy because you are going to see them again,” Piñon said. Maria Guadalupe Piñon of Tigard stands at her vendor booth during the Día de los Muertos festival at Restlawn Memory Gardens and Funeral Home on Friday. (Joe Siess/Salem Reporter) Karen Limas, also a vendor at the event, teamed up with Johnson to help plan this year’s festivities. Limas’ booth is Blessed Creations known for its “cutesy Hispanic themed” custom items. Limas said Día de los Muertos became important to her family after her father, Rudy Limas, passed away.  Limas said her young daughter has a special connection with her grandfather, despite never meeting him. Every year Día de los Muertos is an opportunity for Limas to share her father’s memory with her daughter.  “Even though she doesn’t know him, it is almost like she does know him,” Limas said. “With the holiday it makes it easier to explain it to her.” A participant at the Dia de los Muertos festival at Restlawn Memory Gardens and Funeral Home on Friday gets her face painted in the spirit of the holiday (Joe Siess/Salem Reporter). Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE – If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. 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