A Walk in the Hereafter

“A Walk in the Hereafter”

It’s taking a lot longer than I thought it would. Of course, there’s no guidebook for dead people, at least as far as I know. After three months I’m still trying to get used to being dead. Even using that word is hard to adapt to. When death comes, people use terms like “He passed away” or “He’s in a better place”. It makes them feel better but the person is still dead and words can’t change that. It’s just how people adjust to the whole situation. And one of the biggest things I’m trying to adjust to is that since I’m dead but still functioning I’m now officially a ghost.

What really made me start thinking about that is what happens at this time of the year. Tonight is Halloween and it’s almost dark enough for things to get started. It’s the night that children will dress up as scary things then go out, knock on the doors of strangers and get all hopped up on sugary treats. Halloween has grown so much over the years that it’s now practically as big as Christmas. Back when I was a kid we had to make our own costumes. With some imagination we could turn our old clothes, some fake blood and our mother’s make-up into an acceptable monster of some kind. Today’s kids expect their parents to take them to a Halloween store and buy them an expensive, ready-made costume that they’ll wear exactly once. Oh, sorry, I’m getting a little off track here.

Nobody wants to be a ghost but I guess when it happens you just have to make the best of it. So thinking about making the best of my situation got me thinking about the ways that Halloween depicts ghosts. I never gave it much thought until I became one. Ghosts have been shown as a person wearing a sheet with eyes cut out of it. That’s been one of the preferred ghost looks for decades of TV shows and cartoons. I think it came from the days, many years ago, when people who died, yes died not passed away, were wrapped in shrouds of linen before burial. Today it seems the most popular way to depict a dead person is by showing him or her as a zombie. Actually zombies aren’t really ghosts because they’ve been reanimated so they can move around as though they’re alive. It’s all tied up in witchcraft. I never paid much attention to zombies but it’s the same thing as people wearing sheets; they aren’t even close to looking like real ghosts. I can tell you in the three months of my being a ghost I haven’t seen a single person in a sheet or any zombies, not one single one.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret that just might come in handy for you someday; ghosts look just like you and me and everyone else. No sheets, no bulging eyes and no tattered clothes, just regular looking people. They’re people who can’t fly around and people who don’t stagger around with their arms stretched out to grab someone. They aren’t scary. Ghosts look totally normal except you can’t see them. I mean living people like you can’t see them, just other ghosts can. We ghosts can see and hear everything including living people. The problem is you can’t see or hear us. And you can’t feel us or touch us. Somehow that doesn’t seem fair. Remember when I told you how I’m having trouble adjusting to being a ghost? Well, that’s the hardest part for me; wanting to talk and listen and mix in with people and not being able to. But there is one thing I’ve learned. About a week after I died a fellow ghost told me something she learned. She told me that we ghosts can speak to people through their hearts not their ears. People don’t hear us the regular way but somehow they get our message.

All things considered, being a ghost is kind of boring. We don’t need to eat so we can’t enjoy a tasty hamburger or a sweet dessert. We don’t need to sleep because we don’t get tired. Ghosts don’t shower because we don’t get dirty. And we don’t live in houses so we spend a lot of time walking around and sitting on park benches. We have lots of spare time with nothing to do.

So here I am walking around under the streetlights while bunches of kids in costumes hurry past me to get to another door and another treat. When I was a kid the tricks were just as important as the treats. To be honest it was the boys who did most of the tricking and it was all pretty innocent stuff; things like sneaking a bar of your mother’s soap out of the house and then smearing it over the windows of people who stiffed you when you knocked on their door and they didn’t open it. Tossing a roll of toilet paper into the neighbor’s tree was also a favorite. While I’m walking around tonight I’m going to keep my eyes open to see what kind of mischief they’re into these days. Kids have always been pretty creative when it comes to playing pranks on people. After the trick or treating hours are over and the kids are back at home I’ll probably sit down on my favorite bench in the park, the one beside the duck pond, and wait for tomorrow. And I think you’re going to be excited when I tell you about what’s happening tomorrow.

Okay, I hope you managed to get some sleep last night after all of that trick or treating. My night on the park bench wasn’t all that interesting but it was peaceful and that’s a good thing because today is the day for excitement. I’m going to walk over to Garcia Street and hang out there because today is Dia de los Muertos. That’s how they say it in Spanish. In English it’s called Day of the Dead. See, there’s that word again, dead. It’s nothing to be afraid of. Anyway, Day of the Dead is celebrated by Mexican people on the day after Halloween even though the two days have nothing to do with each other. I heard a lot about it back when I was still alive but I never got the chance to experience it for myself. Today will be that chance. There’s a big, stucco arch on Garcia Street with signs about the big day and all of the things that will be happening in the neighborhood square.

So here is what I want to tell you about Day of the Dead. Wait a minute. You know what? I think I’m going to call it by its Spanish name because Dia de los Muertos is much more fun to say. Okay, here’s what I know. Even though the day is about dead people it’s not meant to be sad like a funeral, or spooky and scary like Halloween. Nope, Dia de los Muertos is a celebration of people who were a part of families and the community and who just happened to die. Heck, everyone dies someday so the Mexican people say, “Just because he or she is dead doesn’t mean they aren’t still with us”. Look around the square and you can see what’s going on. Instead of being sad they’ve turned it into a celebration of the lives of people who passed away. Okay, I used that term, sorry. Anyway, Dia de los Muertos includes saying a few prayers at brightly painted altars but it’s mostly happy music and dancing, brightly colored costumes and great Mexican food. Look around and you’ll see that there are plenty of people dressed like ghosts but not at all like your Halloween-style ghosts. Mexican ghosts have faces painted like smiling skulls and are into laughing and waving while they dance for the crowd. And see that woman over there in the bright yellow and red dress? She’s actually dancing with one of the ghosts. Wouldn’t it be great if you really could dance with the ghost of a loved one from long ago?

Well, I’m going to head over there to that bench by the stage. I wish I could eat one of those fresh sopapillas but at least I can enjoy listening to that Mariachi music. I have to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect on my first Halloween as a ghost but it has all worked out okay. I learned that being a ghost can be many things, both spooky and fun. I’m not sure I can decide which one I like better so I guess from now on I’ll just enjoy both. Well, I hope things go okay for you. Take care of yourself and maybe I’ll see you back here next year.