The Lost Table
The Portland Grief House invites you to join The Lost Table, a welcoming space to gather in community, remember those we’ve lost, and share in the traditions that help us keep them close. Bring a dish, pull up a chair, and make a place at the table for the dead. Grief can be hard to understand, and sometimes what we need most is community, ritual, conversation, and food.
Together, we’ll explore how different cultures and traditions call to, honor, and make offerings to those who have died. In the spirit of Día de Muertos, we’ll create a shared space where the living and the dead can gather around the same table.
We’ll begin with a creative activity led by Mario Mesquita, inviting us to reflect on memory, food, and our relationships with those we’ve lost. Participants will be introduced to the ritual elements that will carry us through the evening.
Laura Green will lead a community conversation about intercultural traditions of Día de Muertos and other ways communities call to and remember their dead. Participants will have an opportunity to share stories, traditions, and memories, and to dedicate an offering to someone they have lost.
Bea Yeh will introduce the tradition of Hungry Ghost and lead us in making an offering to the dead. We’ll set places at our table for those who are no longer with us and share food as an act of remembrance and connection.
Our community offerings and tributes will be gathered at Ximena Morales’s altar, creating a shared space of remembrance that connects the different traditions and offerings brought into the room.
Throughout the evening, we’ll create something together through words, offerings, and remembrance. We’ll dedicate a community poem to the dead and close our gathering with a collective ritual of words, sound, and stillness.
Please bring:
- A dish to share, plus any serving utensils it needs. Consider bringing something that reminds you of a loved one or connects you to a family or cultural tradition.
- Please label your food with a card identifying any allergens or dietary considerations.
- Your own dinnerware (plate, bowl, utensils, napkin).
- A beverage for yourself, if you’d like something other than water.
- A photograph, name, or other small tribute to a loved one for the community altar, if you’d like.
- Please do not bring chips, salsa, or guacamole—Milagro will provide these.
The Portland Grief House is honored to continue this tradition, originally started by Side Yard Farm. El Centro Milagro is excited to partner with Portland Grief House to create a space for English- and Spanish-speaking community members to gather, remember, share traditions, and honor the dead together.
Schedule
4:00–4:30 PM — Opening Ritual & Activity
4:30–5:45 PM — Community Conversation & Offerings
5:45 PM — Dedication & Closing
Estimated Running Time: 3 hours
Age Recommendation: Ages 10+