This Sunday is All Saints. Monday is All Souls. In the middle of a week of school, practice and leftover candy, your child may ask a question you did not plan for. Where do people go when they die?

Many Corpus Christi families have already started remembering. The Día de los Muertos Street Festival filled downtown on Saturday, October 24, and included a Community Ofrenda Display honoring loved ones. Whether your family builds an altar, lights one candle or stays quiet, this week is a natural time for the subject to come up.

What the Church remembers this week

November 1 is the Solemnity of All Saints. The next day, the Church invites us to commemorate all the faithful departed. Monday, November 2, is that day, often called All Souls.

The Catechism explains why Catholics pray for the dead. From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers for them, above all in the Eucharist. Prayer for the dead is also one of the spiritual works of mercy.

Pope Leo XIV spoke about memory at Rome’s Verano Cemetery last year. He said we keep our loved ones with us in our hearts, even though they left us when they died. He said faith lets us hold those memories as “more than just a recollection of the past but also, and above all, as hope for the future.”

You do not have to be Catholic to light a candle for your grandmother. Every family remembers. Faith is never a condition of anything we do at Ignite His Glory.

Children meet loss earlier than we expect

A 2016 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics said the vast majority of children experience the death of a close family member or friend during childhood, and about one in 20 experiences the death of a parent. The AAP has since revised that clinical report. Those numbers are from 2016, but the point still stands. Your child is probably not the only one in the classroom carrying a loss.

What pediatricians suggest about the conversation

This is not medical advice, and your child’s own doctor knows your child best. These ideas come from the AAP’s HealthyChildren.org:

• Be clear and honest. Use words that match your child’s age and stage.
• Do not assume an older child is fine. One opener the AAP suggests is “I’m wondering which part of this is the hardest for you.”
• Expect some kids to hide it. Children may keep their grief quiet because they think sharing it will make their parents feel worse.
• Expect it to take a long time. A child will not simply “get over” a death within a few months or even a year.
• Look for company. The AAP says children’s bereavement groups and camps exist, and some programs are free. Your pediatrician’s office is a good place to ask.

Four ordinary ways to remember

None of these needs a budget or a script.

• Cook the dish. Pick one recipe from the person you miss and let your child stir. Say who taught it to you.
• Make a small shelf. Put out a photo and a candle. Add one new story each evening this week.
• Take a walk. Go somewhere that person loved, such as the bayfront, a park or the block where they lived. Walking makes it easier for some children to talk.
• Pray one short prayer. The Eternal Rest prayer takes about fifteen seconds. A child can say it with you.

Sunday is also the weekend the clocks fall back. Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on November 1. That can make a tender weekend feel even longer. Go easy on bedtime and dinner.

Why we mention food, movement and sleep

Here is where this connects to our work. One health system’s guidance for grieving children lists a regular routine, eating well, staying hydrated, physical activity and good sleep as vital. In a hard week, the ordinary rhythms of the day give a child something steady to stand on. You do not have to fix anything. Keep the meals, the movement and the bedtime as steady as you can, and stay close.

That is the thinking behind Ignite Fit, our free family fitness and nutrition program for children here in the Coastal Bend. Move sessions are 45 minutes and coach-led. Sessions open and close in prayer. Families are invited and never required. Nobody is asked to explain what is going on at home.

One next step

This week, choose one way to remember, and do it with your child. A recipe, a photo or a walk is enough. If your child seems stuck or very sad, call your pediatrician.

When you are ready, visit the Ignite His Glory website to learn about Ignite Fit. Season One dates will be announced soon.