Día de los Muertos

This project is based on a traditional Spanish holiday. My project is about the passing of my uncle which happened about a year ago. This project contains a slideshow, a picture of my skull that I designed, a reflection in English, and a Spanish eulogy.

The person that passed away is my uncle. His name was Khalid Al-Tahir and he was 45 years old when he passed away. He was with my other uncle and grandmother and they were all in one car. They were on their way home from the masjid. They prayed the sunrise prayer, so it was still somewhat dark. They were at a red light and when it finally turned green, they went and all of a sudden a huge truck came speeding into them. They were rushed into the hospital; my uncle had a head injury, my grandmother had a broken arm as well as a head injury and finally my uncle was in a coma. Soon enough, we found out that my uncle and grandmother were released from the hospital however,my other uncle was still in a coma. Everyday we would get the same news, the news of him not waking up. It stressed my mother out because she was in America and it is very difficult to go to Saudi Arabia. About a month later, we found out he was pronounced dead. It hurts at the thought that the person I talk to is actually dead. A part of me didn’t want to believe it.A part of me thought that he was still alive so he’s still asleep. But reality hit me, and I thought that it was a time where I needed to accept it.

This person meant a lot to me because he was very nice and always showed empathy for others. With him living halfway across the world, we managed to keep in touch and always talk about things that were going on in our lives. I’ve decided to create this sugar skull in remembrance of my uncle. I thought that creating the sugar skull could help me bring back memories of the both of us. I didn’t actually see him face-to-face since it wouldn’t really work out. I am living in the United States while he was living with his family in Saudi Arabia. There was a time where my mom told me that we were finally going to Saudi Arabia and in my head I say, “Wow, I actually get to see my uncle and my aunt for the first time.” When I finally go there, I find out that he went to Sudan to see his family. I was very disappointed. Later on, when we went to Sudan, he came to visit us, however, I don’t remember seeing him. My mother would tell me that he visited and she introduced me to him, but I don’t remember. Now, all that I see from him is a picture of him on social media or from my aunt. Also, my aunt and mother would tell me stories about him. The stories are actually beneficial to me in general. It made me think about how he sees life and how he went on with his life when he was alive. Also, I thought about how his family reacted when the doctors told them he was gone. It must’ve felt heartbreaking. In my head, I said thank god I’m not there because I wouldn’t know how to deal with it. He was the first person that had died and that I knew personally.

So, for my sugar skull, I decided to put the two flags of the countries that he lived in, Sudan (his birth country) and Saudi Arabia (where he lived with his family). His favorite color was brown so I colored the sugar skull brown. I also wanted to draw a ring to show that he was married and put 45 small dots around the skull to show the age he was. Since, I previously mentioned that he was peaceful so I will be drawing a peace sign. Since his birthday is on March 16, 1968, he is a pisces, so I would be painting a pisces sign next to the islamic symbol on the skull’s forehead.

Dia de los Muertos opened my mind up to celebrating the passing of loved ones. It helped me realize how it affected me when they passed away and how special they are to me. It helped me recognize who I am because of these people. It showed me how worthy a human being can be when you start to think about memories that I had with those people. It showed me that I should thank God that I’m still living and breathing healthy. I have to appreciate the people and things that I have in my life because anything could happen at anytime and anywhere.

Spanish Eulogy:

Hola, me llamo Saraa Fadl. Yo estoy en el grado décimo. Voy a hablar de la muerte de Khalid Al-Tahir. Él nació en Sudán y vivió toda su vida ahí. Luego, él vivía en Arabia Saudita con su familia. Él era una persona de paz y amaba a todos él conocía. El trabaja como ingeniero civil. Él es muy competente con su carrera.

Yo soy en America. Yo vivo en Filadelfia, Pensilvania. Todos los días, yo creo que él. Mi mamá nos dice cuentos de él. Yo creo que como mi prima esta sin su padre. Yo buscado veo ella cuando nosotros ir a Sudán. De la manera que, es malo tiempo, asi que yo no podía vio ella.