This was my first time making an altar to remember the people in my life who have passed away. I had many tears while building the altar because I just think about how the time we have with people is borrowed and nobody is immortal and stays with us forever. My altar has people who have been in my life and some who have not, which is my grandpa for example. Although I have never met him, I always felt very close to him spiritually and making the altar made it feel like he was around me and made me feel safe. I feel like it is important to always be aware of our surroundings because I felt my energy shift when I was building the altar. I felt as if all my loved ones were surrounding me while I was building it and were telling me it was going to be okay since I struggled to find items to help build it. Feeling that safe energy makes me understand why people do this every year and love making this. My altar inspiration is from my mom's family altar back home in Michoacan, Mexico. My aunt from Mexico sent me lots of papel picado, and bought me alebrijes, which are the guardian animals that walk our family across the bridge to the after-life. I had asked my sister to bring me some pan de muerto, so everyone in my family helped me build my altar which was very heartwarming. I added lots of mariposas since the Monarch butterflies migrate to Michoacan which is where my family is from. I know this will be something I am doing for the rest of my life because I truly enjoyed making it come all together. I truly appreciate this class for teaching me more about myself and my culture. Thank you for giving the class the opportunity to remember our loved ones.