Sandy Allbee Lacy

Pepe and Lupita and the Great Yawn Jar Sandy Allbee Lacy

When Pepe and Lupita are playing one late summer afternoon, trying to catch Grandpa's Great Yawns in a glass canning jar, they have no idea that the fruits of their game will come to be the solution to a major problem for the family-especially for Mama-come All Souls Day, when the soul of Grandma Isabella comes to visit their family. Pepe and Lupita are the eldest of the six (soon to be seven) children of Maria Estela and Juan Miguel Lujan y Mendoza. Their grandfather, Esteban Mendoza, lives with this family in San Luis, Colorado, the oldest village in the state. Their ancestors came to the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado in the late 1600s. Their descendants have stayed there ever since. The ancestors brought with them both the Catholic faith of the conquering Spaniards and the indigenous customs of their Native American heritage, among which are All Saints Day and All Souls Day (Dia de los Muertos), celebrated the first and second of November, respectively, each year.