Remembering

I think I've mentioned before that I live only a few miles from the third largest (nongovernment) cemetery in the country.  I drive past it every day on my way to work, and I learned how to drive a stick shift there.  It's really a beautiful place, from an era when cemeteries were treated like parks -- a destination for picnicking and socializing.  I should probably explain that I've been visiting cemeteries all my life.  And not really at all for the purpose of visiting my dead relatives.  Both of my parents seem to have a fascination with cemeteries, so whenever we went on vacation, we inevitably ended up in some tiny local cemetery, wandering around in the tall weeds and reading nearly illegible dates and names.  So it only makes sense that I actually enjoy driving through Crown Hill every once in a while just for the views.  This took place the Thursday after Memorial Day, and I spent a solid two hours there.

This is what I wrote as my reasoning for wanting to leave flowers on random graves (#77)...

"I often wonder about all the people who are buried there.  Since I have so very little family and only a few close friends, I sometimes think about how there won't be anyone to visit my grave when I die.  So this is just my way of showing that a few random people are being thought of.  It's not meant to be morbid, but the idea of never being remembered after you're gone is a little sad."

That pretty much sums it up, so here are the ones I chose.  For each one, I placed the flowers, read their name and the dates, and just took a minute to reflect on what their lives might have been.


A military man who wasn't buried in the military section, so he doesn't get honored with the others every year on Memorial Day.

 

This large monument overlooked an entire family of fifteen or twenty, all buried in the early 1900's.



This couple died recently, and the fact that they died so close together reminded me of my grandparents.  It also struck me that the stone stated "forever in our hearts", but it was one of only a few in this entire section that had no flowers.