Dia de los Muertos traditions help connect the living with their departed loved ones

GLENDALE, Calif. (KABC) -- Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of loved ones who are gone but not forgotten.

The holiday is meant to be a celebration, not a time for mourning. Brightly decorated shrines share space with whimsical calaveras, or sugar skulls. Faces are painted with a skull to represent death and rebirth.

And food is offered such as pan muerto, or bread of the dead.

At KABC-TV, an altar was built for employees to engage with others and share the stories of their loved ones.

"It is a wonderful, beautiful way to process grief," said Conseulo G. Flores, an altarista and cultural bearer. "It is important for all of us to understand that all of us will have someone in our lives that has been important to us that will pass will die as we will too."

For those who believe, Dia de los Muertos is a day when the barrier between the living and the spirit world allows our loved ones to join us for just one more day.