Traffic on the dirt road leading to cemetery was steady all day long. More than 70 Venders catered to the growing crowd. There were trucks piled high with flowers, and stands selling funeral wreaths depicting Jesus, Mary and different saints.

The cemetery came alive with relatives who tidied up tombs and hired musicians to serenade their dearly departed . "Amor Eterno," eternal love was a favorite request. Others brought favorite dishes to share. One family put up a tarp for shade and planned to grill some fish and spend the entire afternoon at their relative's gravesite.

Some people included the family pet. A dog sat quietly at his former owner's grave as children played nearby. At another gravesite, Cristian Rodarte Gamez placed his mother's beloved parrot near the tombstone where he and his sisters stood vigil. Olivia Gamez died from health problems this March.

In Mexico, many view death as part of the natural progression of life but in Juarez drug violence has changed the natural order of things forcing hundreds of parents to bury their children.

"Most are young kids," remarked Isabel Perez. Her 14 year old son was gunned down last year as drug violence escalated. His 6 brothers and sisters joined their mother under an umbrella at his grave. A cross made of wrenches reflected his passion for fixing up cars.

Just a few feet away, another family remembered another 14 year old who died in a hail of bullets. "He was just a child," said his uncle Elisas Candelaria. "God only knows when the killing will stop.

This municipal cemetery is the largest and offers the least expensive burial. Many of those who are buried here live in poor neighborhoods where victim and villain live side by side.

Death is no stranger in Juarez, and on this Dia de los Muertos the cemetery was filled with families whose loved ones are causalities in an undeclared war.

Watch the slideshow Dia de los Muertos.pdf