SPANISH 2 - Moran - D Public Feed
Entrevista Proyecto - Zack Waxler
Día De los Muertos Proyecto - Zack Waxler
For this project we had to create a reflection, a eulogy, a video of us reading the eulogy, a sugar skull, and a skull mask in memory of a deceased loved one. I really liked having the opportunity to reflect on and learn about my grandmother, Clare Waxler. I never knew her because she died a few years before I was born, but I wish I did because she was an amazing person.
English Reflection
by Zack Waxler
for Clare Waxler
For this project I chose to focus on my Dad’s mother, Clare Waxler who died on 1996 from renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer). She was born here in Philadelphia, and remained here for her whole life. On July 2nd, 1936 she got married to Samuel Waxler, who was a dentist in south Philadelphia, and shortly after that had four children. For most of her life after that, she was a housewife and devoted her time to raising my dad, my aunts Linda and Marilyn and my uncle Richard. She moved around Philadelphia several times during her lifetime, first she moved from her parent’s house to Samuel’s house (and dental office), then she moved to the house that my dad inherited from them, and I am currently living in. She was in the house that I am living in when she passed away.
Although I never knew her, because she died four years before I was born, I have heard a lot about her and how important she was to my family. Someone in my family described her as “the mortar that held our family together”, because when she was alive, our whole extended family was very close, and when she died the different branches of our family started seeing each other a lot less. My parents always say that they wish I could have met her when she was alive, and that she would have loved to have met my sister and I before she died. I wish I had met her too, because for most of my life I have only had one pair of grandparents (my grandfather (her husband) died when I was three or four, and I don’t really have any memories of him other than vague pictures in my head). She also had a very close relationship with my Dad, which still reflects in him today because of how much he praises her, he only has good things to say about her.
I created my skull and mask for her because I’ve never really learned about my grandmother in depth before, and I wanted to take this project as an opportunity to explore my family’s past. Going into the project I had only heard scattered facts and talks about her, and I was intrigued to learn more. Now that I’ve explored my family’s history, I feel like I can better understand what happened before I was born and how that connects to the present day. She was also one of the closest people to my family, because all of the other people that have died in my family only had distant or infrequent relationships with me. Since I didn’t have any mental pictures of her to model the skull and mask off of, I decided to use more meaningful items and designs. In the creation of my sugar skull and mask, I tried to emphasize how caring she was with the use of various heart shaped objects and warm colors. I also incorporated a lot of blue into the skull and mask, because she was very passionate about that color, and because she took my whole family down to the beach in North Carolina every year.
Learning about día de los muertos has helped me consider a different aspect of death that I had never really considered before. I have an unusually large family, so we experience death more frequently than other families do. When we experience death, we generally go through the same process, where we mourn, have a funeral and bury or cremate the person. Our customs are very different to the ones outlined in día de los muertos, because we generally believe that it isn’t respectful to the deceased to celebrate their passing, and that we “owe” the person the same treatment and customs that we have given everyone else in the family. Pretty much all religions and cultures that I’ve come in contact with in my surroundings seem to support this idea of mourning the dead, and I think it’s interesting that people in the United States (that I’ve seen) have this idea of sad over happy. Although I’ve grown up like this, I completely understand the meaning behind día de los muertos, and would be open to celebrating a person’s death if that is what they believe in. Personally, I would feel bad in a way if I cast a big shadow on my family and friends after I died, so in that way the tradition makes sense to me.
Eulogy
by Zack Waxler
for Clare Waxler
Hola damas y caballeros, yo soy Zack Waxler, el nieto del difunto. Yo no conocí Clare, porque ella murió cuatro años antes nací. Ella fue de sur filadelfia. Ella fue nacer de mil novecientos dieciocho. Su nombre fue Clara cuando ella nació y ella cambió su nombre de Clare porque ella no le gustó su nombre. Ella murió en mil novecientos noventa y seis de cáncer. Ella fue un ama de casa. Ella crió cuatro hijos con su esposo Samuel Waxler, quien murió en mil novecientos. Ella fue amado de mi todo familia. Hoy, yo soy madurar en la mismo casa de Clare. Yo soy feliz vivir en igual sitio vivió. Mis padres son triste yo nunca presenté ella porque ellos siempre hablan “ella amó hijos”. Yo soy triste también porque ella fue un especial persona. Yo deseo quedé ella. Mi vida sería muy diferente. Gracias para la posibilidad hablar y recordar Clare hoy.
Video: https://www.wevideo.com/view/510054511
Quarter 1 Spanish College Interview
Conversational Powerpoint
Dia De Los Muertos Benchmark Project
Summary of Project
This project entails a brief reflection of the loss of my grandmothers death. Along with a decorated sugar skull and face mask, this project also includes a commemoration video in spanish celebrating the loss of my grandmother. This Spanish project was inspired by "Dia De Los Muertos" or "day of the dead". This spanish holiday was created to celebrate the loss of loved ones. Enjoy!
Spanish Reflection
It was a day I would never forget. What started off as a slight chance of her living turned for the worse. Around a few years ago in the late summer, my grandma “Neicy” passed away. It was a really gloomy time, especially for her closest family. Before she died, she was constantly in and out of the hospital, but I always felt there was a chance of her still being alive. My grandmother was very special to me. She was always there for me, and my closest family member and friend. I heard the news and I was in complete shock, and the tears rolled down my face. I could not believe I had lost such a close person. She was a very friendly and open- hearted person. Even the people who did not know her very well were deeply saddened. She had a lasting effect on her children, grandchildren, family (spiritual and blood related). Overall, she was a woman of many hats to many people. She was my grandmother, but meant so much more. She would always around me to support me. She was at every recital, play and performance. She would babysit me sometimes when my parents had to work. She was a very kind person to everyone she meant.
Since she was my grandma, I often took her for granted. Even though she was always with me, I never showed as much appreciation as I should have. When she passed away, it was too late. I remember the day she died in the hospital, she laid on a monitor and I watched her fight for her life. The whole family was gathered around her talking to her. We all would talk to her hoping she could hear us. It was a horrible sight. She died there in the hospital bed. Getting over her death was the most difficult. Realizing that I wasn’t able to see her anymore was the most devastating. I never had the chance to say goodbye. I hated that she had to leave so soon. The biggest feeling I had when she passed was not sadness, but guilt and regret. I should have taken more time to appreciate the times we shared together. I wish I could find a way to bring her back to life so I can Show her how much I appreciate her.
My other grandparents had passed, some I haven’t even met, but she was my favorite. Constantly seeing her regularly was very exciting to me. I could tell her anything. She would treat me out to eat sometimes, tell me stories, and even on her sick days she would make me feel well. Although, she had many children and grandchildren she had the talent to make everyone feel special. I am grateful to have had her in my life but often wish she was still here. I enjoyed the moments we had together. Even if it was sitting and talking, I enjoyed her company. She knew how to make everyone she loved her own, she was loving, caring, kind and someone I will never forget. Unfortunately, She died at a very young age but, I wish that she was still here with us. She meant the world to me: a friend, grandma, comedian, adviser,and many more and I hate that she had to go so soon. She was the closest family member to me. Even though I was not able to physically show my appreciation, this project will be one way I will commemorate her life and show how important she was to me. Doing this project is really helping me cope with her death and celebrate how important she was to me.
On my sugar skull, I decided to paint flowers, abstract lines and the color purple. She was not only a beautiful person on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside. She could the beauty in others. She was very friendly to others around her, everyone knew her to be very kind. We was very giving of herself. every petal of the flowers on my sugar skull represents how radiant her beauty was that everyone could see. She wasn’t just a mother, grandmother, spiritual mother and caregiver to many, she was also a friend to many. All of the abstract colors and glitter showed how much her smile could light up a room. Overall, this sugar skull showed how much her true beauty and how much she meant to all who knew her.
It’s been almost 5 years since she passed away. We have had her funeral and she has been cremated. I feel that in a sense she has been tucked away and only talked about once in a blue moon. She will never be forgotten, but she isn’t mentioned as much. Dia de los muertos has helped me realize that commemoration isn’t just a one- time event. Her life was very important in our family and she should be able to recognize her on a regular. Her life is to constantly be talked about and celebrated. Dia De los Muertos is about celebrating those that have passed, and it has opened my eyes and helped me realize that as we progress forward, we shouldn't forget about our loved ones who died years ago.