DAY OF THE DEAD

​​Celebrated on November 2, Day of the Dead is a traditional Mexican holiday that stems from the ancient indigenous people of Mexico. On this day, it is believed that the souls of the dead return to visit their living family members. Many people celebrate this day by visiting the graves of deceased loved ones and setting up altars with their favorite foods, drink, and photos. It is a time to remember the good times and remember the loved ones who are no longer with us. In Germany, we have a similar tradition at All Hallows called All Saints’ Day today at 1st of November. Other countries send remembrance lanterns out to the sea or up into the air to cherish their loved ones gone before them to the other side of the stars. So while death can be a mournful experience, the Day of the Dead allows us to remember the happy memories we have of our loved ones. Tears of laughter and remembrance fill this day yet let´s remember the good times we had together first and foremost! <3

Challenge:

Create a HA depicting or remembering a loved one, be it a human or pet or even a place or situation you have lost. Remember the good times you had and show us your precious and cherished memories.

Like always, all wearables are allowed and you don´t have to own them. Please use surroundings. Please don´t post HAs already created for another challenge in Subeta. Contest ends Thursday the 8th of November, midnight Subeta time.

🏆 PRIZES 🎁

Please note:

The beautiful is a private item released by which was made in memory of someone very dear to her. The headpiece is not intended to be a sale or trade item. Please give it back to her if you decide to leave Subeta if you win it. ^-^ I am deeply grateful that Rox agreed for the gorgeous item to be the first prize. has the honor to choose the winner of place 1, too. ^-^

To achieve a neat arrangement here, please post any questions in the chat thread CHAT THREAD LINK and ping me there, thank youuuuu! ^-^

Pictures of my Granny

Outfit Not Found I lost my Granny April of this year. This has been the hardest death I have been through so far. When I was a kid growing up I was never close to my mom’s parents as they lived many states away and only met them once my entire life. My dad’s side, my grandma feel ill and passed away when I was very young and my grandfather was always very cold. I never really felt the love from a grandparent. Then my dad married my stepmom and I was brought into a new family atmosphere. The first time I met my Granny and she gave me a hug it was unlike any hug I had ever felt from a grandparent before. So loving and heartfelt. A real full-fledged hug, I wanted to cry. Every time after my Granny and I shared a special bond. She always loved how I dressed and when a man came into the picture she couldn’t help but tell him how handsome he was all the time, and how she REALLY wanted a hug from him, cause she didn’t get many good lookin guys to hug her. She was one of the best and she will be forever missed. I never saw her with a frown and try to be similar to her as much as I can. She taught me her Mimi's Pecan Pie and I make it every year at Christmas and Thanksgiving. I regret last year I didn't make the recipe, her last chance to try it.

Actually, the outfit I am wearing I made to commemorate my sweet silkie chicken, Pompom, who passed over the summer. :( I really miss her. I hope it's okay to enter it for the contest?

Private Outfit

She was such a sweetie. She would sit in my lap or perch on my arm, and she would even walk on a lead. Here are some pictures of her. The rainbow on the was not only a nod to the "rainbow bridge," but also because I would use food coloring to make her feathers interesting colors. It would hide dirt better than her natural white, and it looked pretty neat. The last time I dyed her feathers, they were rainbow.

Pompom

Also, the has been on my WL forever, but I had no idea it was a private item! Thanks very much for that info. :-)

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother's passing. :( I was also really close to my grandma. She passed 10 years ago (almost 11 now), and it is the hardest death I've had to deal with. I still get teary when I think about her. Your Granny reminds me a bit of her; she was such a sweet lady, and it sounds like your Granny was too. <3 It's good that you have her recipes to remember her by. I hope that time lessens your pain, and I am glad that you have so many happy memories of her. hugs

Private Outfit

I miss my mom so damn much. It'll be three years this January 27th since she passed; a month shy of her 60th birthday (February 23rd). She passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly due to what's called SCAD - Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Basically, a hole spontaneously formed in one of the arteries in her heart. My only relief is that, when she passed, she felt no pain. She didn't suffer.

There is a lifetime of memories that I will cherish, and a lifetime of love I will never forget. I just wish she was still here, watching her grand-babies (my daughter, and my sister's son) grow up. I wish she was still here to run and cry to. I wish she was still here to talk to, to hold us and tell us that everything will be okay. I miss the random late-night drives just to get out of the house and talk. She never got mad. Upset, at times, yes--but never mad. She was our rock, our greatest supporter, and our best friend. Mom was the glue that held our family together. There wasn't a single person that ever met her, that didn't like her.

The little orange tabby with mum is our sweet little "lion cub", Sheila. Sheila passed away years ago from a sudden onset of kidney failure and fatty liver disease, but she was mom's sweetest little baby. Mumma is wearing her work scrubs; she worked in a hospital as a phlebotomist when my siblings and I were growing up, and then a family doctor's office after--her ultimate dream-job. I pictured them with the Branch of the World Tree background, because mom is whom I get my Nordic genes from--her father was the first on his side of the family to be born in the USA; his mother immigrated to the States from Oslo. She dabbled in Paganism, hence the pentacle, even though she was born and raised Christian (like me). I've since followed closer to our ancestry, though, and have followed the Nordic "path."

I love you and miss you so much, my mumma.. I will see you again.

Lo, there do I see my father, Lo, there so I see my mother, And my sisters, and my brothers. Lo, there do I see the line of my people, Back to the beginning. Lo, they do call to me. They bid me to take my place among them, In the halls of Valhalla, Where the brave shall live forever.

After she passed away my family shared a ton of her recipes so she will def live on in our hearts and our bellies :) I am sorry about your chicken too :( Pets are family and we love them so much, its sad their lives are so much shorter than ours

I am so sorry for the loss of your mom. -hugs-

That's good, I'm so glad that you have those. Family recipes are so important! Unfortunately, my grandma never wrote down any of her recipes (she just eyeballed everything), so we aren't able to make any of her baked goods. Thanks. <3 It is hard when pets have such short lives. Chickens in particular usually only live up to 5 years. :(

I'm so sorry that you lost your mom, I can't imagine your grief. hugs

Private Outfit

This HA represents my father. He died when I was 13. He was not doing well for the six preceding years, either. At the time he died, he was homeless and living in his car with his cat.

I have depicted him standing in front of a spiral staircase because he loved modern architecture and specifically loved spiral staircases. I remember him going on about how great they were at one of his friend's houses.

When I was young he was doing very well and had a lot of friends, a great job, two cute little girls (my sister and me) and a beautiful wife (my mom). But sadly he did not keep all that good stuff in life.

He had a mental illness and didn't cooperate in treating it because he said it made him feel like he wasn't himself. I can tell you it was when he wasn't treating it that he wasn't himself. When he was himself, he was amazing. When he wasn't himself, he was scary.

I miss him so much and wish so much that he'd been able to follow his treatment and would still be with us today. I regret that my husband and my son never got to meet him at all, especially when he was himself.

I made this HA in memory of two of my dearly departed fur babies. They passed within less than a year of each other. I miss them so much.

Fur babies

Hi everyone! I'm new here and this is my first post. I decided to maka a HA in honor of my lovely cat, Coli. He passed away a year ago at his 16 years old. He was so cute and loving and huge and fat lol. What a lovely creature he was. I saw him born with his three brothers (Chichi, the only female of that herd is still with me. Now is 17 years old.) and he died in my house, in my arms because, by decision with his veterinarian, we decided to sleep him. He had a tumor in his lung and could not be operated on. It was very hard to see him decay every day a little until he could no longer bear it. The last thing he gave me was his beautiful purr. I miss him too much. But I like to think that he's somewhere sleeping and eating a lot like he liked lol.

It's a simple HA, I only choose four items. No human. I try to put a cat as the protagonist.

Private Outfit

Coli

yep, he lost an eye in a fight. It was before I could do it castrate.

well here is a pic of my wonderful mother-in-law. This was such a sweet lady and everyone loved her... I am not very good at making her but this is what I came up with. Oh and she died July 9 this year. So here is my mom (mother-in-law). She loved horses so I put one next to her in the HA of her.

                                                                               [outfit=643165]

Now here is a link where you can actually see a pic of how pretty she is: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fort-worth-tx/velma--baker-7931215

Ok now here is my father-in-law. He was a very respected man who was a decan in his church. He and my mom had been married 65years. My dad (father-in-law) was very loved by us all but he could be a very stern man lol. I think everyone was kinda fearful of hm when he got angry but I never was. I thought of him as a big teddy bear yet all the kids would tell me hey there he does bite lol But he never bit anyone I knew of hehe Here is the best HA I could do of him so here it is:

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He died also this year June 11th. They died almost to the day a month apart. But they are together now and that Im sure makes them happy. Even tho we all had such a great loss and so close together makes it so very hard for us remaining. But all I do is try to think of them both smiling and happy.Here is a pic of my dad for yall to see also and he loved eagles so I put one next to him: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fort-worth-tx/newton-baker-7883174

Here's my entry: Private Outfit

Now, let me explain. I know it's very simple & even plain. But that was my purpose. You said we could do a place or situation that we'd lost. Although I've lost many people that were dear to me, "All my memories gather round her..." All my memories go back to my home state that I miss so much more than I ever dreamed I would. Everything pretty much that's close to me or my heart revolves around my home state, West Virginia. I know that may seem so dumb to some people but that's how I feel. All my childhood memories are there, my family is there. I married & moved to where he lived & honestly, the loss of my home state, memories, family, etc has been such a hard situation for me. The feel of home, the friendliness, simplicity, the feeling of safety, not to mention my mountains, the colors, the dirt roads, the sounds...so much more beauty than I could ever try to explain. My home is such a part of me that I feel like I have lost that part of me now that I've moved here. Its been 5 years & I still feel that loss like it was yesterday. Everything here is so different, so cold & unfriendly & open flat lands & I feel so alone & lonely...it may not be that far away distance wise but I'm everything else, it feels so like it's a million miles away except in my memories.

Below are 2 songs that I love about my home. Please take time to read the beautiful lyrics:

SPOILER (click to toggle)

[Verse 1] Almost heaven, West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River Life is old there, older than the trees Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

[Chorus] Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain mama Take me home, country roads

[Verse 2] All my memories gather round her Miner's lady, stranger to blue water Dark and dusty, painted on the sky Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye

[Chorus] Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain mama Take me home, country roads

[Verse 3] I hear her voice, in the morning hour she calls me The radio reminds me of my home far away And driving down the road I get a feeling That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday

[Chorus] Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain mama Take me home, country roads

[Chorus] Country roads, take me home To the place I belong West Virginia, mountain mama Take me home, country roads

Take me home, down country roads Take me home, down country roads

SPOILER (click to toggle)

[Chorus] West Virginia, oh my home West Virginia's where I belong In the dead of the night, in the still and the quiet I slip away, like a bird in flight Back to those hills, the place that I call home

[Verse 1] It's been years now, since I left there And this city life's about got the best of me I can't remember why I left so free What I wanted to do, what I wanted to see But I can sure remember where I come from

[Chorus] West Virginia, oh my home West Virginia's where I belong In the dead of the night, in the still and the quiet I slip away, like a bird in flight Back to those hills, the place that I call home

[Verse 2] Well I paid the price for the leaving And this life I have is not one I thought I'd find Just let me live, love, let me cry But when I go, just let me die Among the friends who'll remember when I'm gone

[Chorus] West Virginia, oh my home West Virginia's where I belong In the dead of the night, in the still and the quiet I slip away, like a bird in flight Back to those hills, the place where I call home

[Verse 3] Home, home, home Oh I can see it so clear in my mind Home, home, home I can almost smell the honeysuckle vines

[Chorus] In the dead of the night, in the still and the quiet I slip away, like a bird in flight Back to those hills, the place that I call home In the dead of the night, in the still and the quiet I slip away, like a bird in flight Back to those hills, the place that I call home

izzyby kylonaberrie

This is a gijinka of Isabelle, Izzy for short, me and my mom's old dog. She died of a combination of old age and health combinations a few years ago. She was 15, which is a good old age for a terrier. She was such a good dog, I still miss her a lot. She had spark and pride and she was so loyal to my mother. She was always super protective of us, even just against squirrels. She would always be barking at the big front window every hour of the day as people passed through her territory, except she knew she wasn't supposed to bark loud, so she would bark with her mouth closed, which was always really cute. We called them peanut butter barks because it was like her mouth was glued shut with peanut butter.

I dressed her up with a little crown and gold jewellery because she was our little princess. She was very particular about her domain, like I said above, and she hated getting her feet wet. She was super prideful, if you scolded her she would get so ashamed of herself, head and tail down. And we always spoiled her with really nice snacks because she loved them so much. Tuna was her favourite. She knew the sound of the can opener and would always come running just in case it was tuna, because my mom would always give her the can to lick. We liked to joke she was a cat in a dog's body because she loved fish so much and when she played she usually did so with her front paws, like batting at stuff like a cat (which is a breed trait, we learned when we got another Tibetan terrier.)

She was always top of the pack for all the pets we ever had when she was around, the cat and the other dog always respected her and let her have her way. She had a sort of elegance about her too, and regalness, unless she was napping, in which case she turned into a ridiculous puddle of fur. And she had such a mind of her own, she would always go off exploring whenever she got the chance, and you could always tell when she didn't want to do something, even though she respected us enough to listen to us. This was a dog where you knew it was actual respect, not just obedience or training. She listened with dignity. And she was so smart, we had to keep changing the words we used for treat and walk and things like that because she would figure out the new one and then expect to be given one.

Anyway she was a great friend and we grew up together. Here's some pictures, the brown dog with her in the fourth one is our other dog, Watson.

SPOILER (click to toggle)

(Also, it feels arrogant to say so, but I would prefer not to be given first prize. It's a great honor that you've put such a meaningful item up, but I'm worried that someday I will vanish without warning leaving it to gather dust in my account for several years until my hyperfocus swings this way again. I feel like it deserves a place in the hands of someone else. But I wanted to participate & share about Izzy anyway. Hope this is OK.)

Also, not as applicable to my dog, but I wanted to share this song that I really love, which is about moving on from having someone in your life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z15krN56LeY

Last day to participate in this remembrance contest, my friends! ^-^

Many of my best memories with my dog Maggie (adopted 3/9/02 - departed 11/27/11) are from our walks in the woods. (And yeah, 2011, but I still tear up when I think about her.)

Outfit Not Found

Here we are hanging out in a particularly nice, mossy spot:

SPOILER (click to toggle)

I will forever associate this song with her. I made a MySpace page for her back in the day (because that was a silly thing we did then ok) and this was her profile song. Not sure why I chose this one but it just seemed to suit her.

I've lost too many loved ones to be able to pick just one, so I lumped a few into one.

Outfit Not Found

The strapping blonde person... that's my dad. I live in the Southern US so he's "Daddy" no matter how old I am. I lost my dad 15 years ago, to brain cancer brought on by having had a lung transplant. But, despite that... I got six and a half more years with him than I would have if he hadn't had it, so in most ways I'm grateful for that. I was Daddy's Girl, flat out and unashamedly. I got so much from Daddy. I got my weird sense of humor from him, I got my kindness from him, I got my love of collecting things from him, and I got my love of baseball from him. If you look at my pets, I have one called 108, which is a fanpet for my (my whole family's) beloved Chicago Cubs. I have been a Cubs fan since birth, and will be until my death. I mention, in his story, about people going to the cemetery with their phones, to "watch the game with someone who was gone." While that was many people throughout Cubs Nation that week, that was also me. The night of game seven of the 2016 World Series, I sat out in a cemetery by my father's grave with my phone, watching the game with him, wearing his old Cubs cap and Ryne Sandberg jersey. He needed to be a part of that moment, and I wouldn't trade skipping the party my friends and family had to do it that way for anything.

The dogs around him are... well. They're two things. One, my dad loved dogs. Loved dogs more than most people, I'm pretty sure. That's something else I got from him. I'm lost if I don't have a dog. The ones around him all signify dogs we've had that have gone on ahead. I have an image in my head that when daddy went through the veil to the other side, all our dogs were waiting for him going 'NOW we can play!' It's a thought that gives me a lot of comfort.

Contest is closed now.

Please choose the winner for first place, love, when you find time, and post them here! <3

Can you ping the group to let them all know, winner announcement is below:

I’m so sorry you all had to wait some time for the announcement of the winner. I had a hard time picking just one entry, simply because all entries told the story of someone close that you loved and still miss every day. All of the entries brought tears to my eyes because I know how everyone feels. In the end though I just decided to pick the HA that spoke to me the most due to the colors used as the winner, so without further ado…….

The winner of the contest is:

Your HA was beautifully made and the background was a perfect choice to complete the HA.

Aww, thanks very much for this! <3 It must have been hard to choose, everyone had such beautiful HAs.

Reading everyone's stories was hard, because I've lost people (and pets) close to me, and I understand how much it hurts. My deepest condolences to everyone who posted here. <3

Thank you so much again for tackling the difficult task of choosing a winner out of all the beautiful and touching HAs, I know that wasn´t easy! ^-^ And thank you so much again for letting us have the beautiful dove as a prize! <3 Congrats for winning the gorgeous CW!

Outfit Not Found

My HA shows me surrounded by many cats I have lost over the years. Tana, Frida, Mandy, Linus and Misu are deputies for all the loved ones playing in the fields over the rainbow bridge - one day, we´ll meet again! <3

And here are all your lovely HAs together:

Since it was nearly impossible to compare them, I decided to raffle the prizes off and here is the result:

The prizes will go out shortly and there will also be a small loveliness for the participants who dodn´t win this time - I always appreciate your entries and love to look at every one! ^-^

🏆 Congrats and and and ! <3

Thank you! Congrats to the other winners! Beautiful entries! <3