Annual blessing remains bittersweet

The sugar-coated frivolity of children trick or treating through the neighborhood Halloween night gave way to much more solemn processions Sunday morning at Westlawn Cemetery in Gretna and at Restlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum in Avondale.

In Gretna, members of the local Catholic clergy led dozens of worshippers in a slow, prayerful walk around the cemetery's main loop "" a sort of "walking rosary" "" before dispersing throughout the grounds to individually bless each of the grave sites in recognition of All-Saints Day.

The holiday is bittersweet, said the Rev. James Day of Gretna's St. Joseph's Church. "We have people who have lost loved ones and they're very sad by that, but the joy of our faith is that God calls us to resurrection, and that God gives us eternal life in heaven, so that's the joy of the day, also."

Day was experiencing those contrasting feelings himself Sunday, as members of his own family, including his parents, are in repose at Westlawn.

For Algerine Bob White, at Westlawn to pay his respects to an aunt, uncle, and two in-laws, "it's just a good day to be here to pay tribute to them and in our own way, to thank them for being with us - for some time, anyway "" and for the things they left us, our memories and so forth."

Jeanine Theriot, of Marrero, said, "We come to pay our respects to our deceased relatives and friends, and we pray for them, and we ask that they pray for us on Earth."

Geri Pusateri, also of Marrero, came to Westlawn to mourn her parents. Her mother, who died in 2006, lost the ability to recognize Geri in her last days following a debilitating stroke. "So I'm here hoping she remembers me," Pusateri said.

Mary Helen Williams, of Old Gretna, who has been going to Westlawn for All-Saints Day since she was a little girl, said, "It's important for continuity. One of these days, my kids will be here for me.

"It's just a part of our life," she said. "We'll do this every year, forever."