Friends of Aaron Carrillo are petitioning the permission to remember him at their commencement ceremony. (Jessica Neels/Borderzine.com)

Students challenge Montwood High’s unwillingness to remember a beloved classmate in this year’s commencement

EL PASO – Aaron Carillo and Jon Cervoni had just left a band concert at their local church when their vehicle stalled. Then, a drunk driver speeding and swerving down the road hit them, taking their lives that hot summer night, July 8, 2011. Carillo was a student at Montwood High School. He was getting ready to begin his junior year when his life was ended abruptly. Many say he was a humble and genuine young man who believed strongly in Christian faith and righteous moral conduct.

(David Smith-Soto/Borderzine.com)

Día de los muertos, Mesilla, NM – Slideshow

MESILLA, NM – Mesilla Plaza near Las Cruces, New Mexico, observed Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Sunday, October 30, with some 50 altars, each one lovingly assembled with mementos  by relatives of the dead to honor and remember their loved ones.  

Lorena Andrade's altar in memory of her father and nephew. (Elvia Navarrete/Borderzine.com)

Día de Los Muertos honors the dead and sustains an ancient Mexican tradition

EL PASO – Carefully placing her deceased father’s framed portrait on a round table covered with a Spanish style tablecloth, Lorena Andrade neatly arranged his favorite things such as the sugar cane, bananas, tunas and lemons, a pack of L&M cigarettes and a Coca Cola glass bottle. “With the candles and the scent of the flowers they can find you,” she said. “You put food that they like to eat that way they would want to come back and, you know, sit down and talk and eat together. It’s a way for them to come back to visit.”

Like Lorena many people gather at Mercado Mayapán to celebrate Day of the Dead, known to Latinos as Día de Los Muertos. It’s a day and a month when mourners remember their lost loved ones and place ofrendas (offerings) on altars in remembrance and to welcome the departed.

Firefighters, ocal policeman, DPS workers, and the county sheriff department officers climbed the Wells Fargo building in full gear. (William Vega/Borderzine.com)

Local firefighters climb into history to remember 9/11

EL PASO – The El Paso Fire Department thundered into downtown in the waking moments of Sept. 11, 2011 in full turnout gear and 80-pound tanks on their backs. But there was no fire at the 21-story Wells Fargo building on Main Street. Instead, they reflected on the memory of the firefighters who lost their lives 10 years ago during the attacks on the World Trade Center. “Today is the first year that we’re hosting this memorial stair climb.