One of the popular Christmas Eve activities here in Albuquerque is to visit neighborhoods that line their sidewalks and homes with luminarias. These simple decorations are constructed of brown paper bags, weighted with sand and lit by a single votive candle.
Besides the luminaria tour route that draws thousands to see the lights, some of the busiest places are the local cemeteries. Families decorate the graves of loved ones with luminarias and holiday ornaments. The lights and the traffic in the cemeteries of Albuquerque on Christmas Eve is stunning!
This phenomenon of visiting the graves of loved ones on Christmas Eve is discussed in this clip from A Good Goodbye TV, Episode 3: Cemetery Q&A. The interview features Chris Keller with FRENCH Funerals-Cremations and Vaughn Hendren with Sunset Memorial Park.
The four-DVD set of the television series is now available! Click here for more information and to purchase A Good Goodbye TV.
Here are videos of a previous year’s visit to Mount Calvary Cemetery in Albuquerque, NM. Check out the “Jingle Bell Grave.”
The poem recited in this clip is “Winter Solstice” by Isaac C. Eastvold, copyright 2009, used with permission.
