In a talk with the book group, A Year of Reading Dangerously, Katy Butler (author of Knocking on Heaven’s Door) mentioned that she’s adopted the Jewish tradition of the Yahrzeit candle in remembering her father.

In this wonderful tradition, a candle is burned for 24 hours every year on the anniversary of the death of a loved one as a memorial.   In Judaism, there is a focus on carrying on the memory of those before us from generation to generation.  As I mentioned in a recent post, I, like many others, found the poem at the end of the film The Shape of Water incredibly poignant because it captures this concept:

At River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation, we celebrate the Day of the Dead with a beautiful altar of flowers and candles and photographs of loved ones.   I find comfort in adopting traditions of other cultures and religions that resonate with me as a way to memorialize loved ones.