This year, Karla Frey had a hard time finishing her usual in her Boucherville, Que. home.

Two months ago, her five-year-old neighbour and his mother were killed in a car crash.

She remembers the little boy visiting her each year, asking questions about her — the altar she’s been setting up annually for the past 15 years to honour loved ones who have passed.

Weighed down by the thought of a mother dying with her son, Frey powered through and finished setting the altar. She took out her picture frames, candles, a decorative version of a bread known as , , mezcal, tequila, and (Mexican marigolds), and got to work.

"I was thinking about how much my little neighbour loved life. He loved my , and I made it a little bit for him, too – and his mom," confided Frey, looking at the photo of the

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