Old Cemetery, Watch Your Step

Any time you visit a battlefield cemetary, it's a powerful thing. I walk through and say out loud as many names and where they were from as I can. It's my own way to honor those who fell.

 

One thing to remember with life expectancies from the 1800s and earlier is that the main reason they're so low is that infant/young child mortality rates were so much higher then and it skews things. Once people got past that stage, their lives, on average, weren't all that much shorter than they are now.

 

Was at Gettysburg a couple years back and ran across a headstone of a navy man who died on December 7, 1941.

 

I went to Oakland Cemetery today. My salon is right across the street. It's so peaceful and beautiful and amazing.

http://www.oaklandcemetery.com/

I stay on the walkways mostly, but some of the confederate graves face away from the walkways, so I try to tiptoe between and walk right behind the back of the next row to allow room for the actual graves.

 

I live right next door to an old pauper's cemetery. Some of the graves date back to the 1800s. The oldest grave I remember seeing -- before all the markers were either destroyed by a pretty bad storm we had a few years ago, or were just weather-worn -- was one of a guy who was born in 1803 or 1804. He died in 1864, and his wife is buried right next to him.

There used to be white crosses on every grave, but only a few are left after that storm. I've always wanted to take the ones that are still legible and make new ones, but never had a chance. One grave is surrounded by a small cement brick wall -- a military veteran, I'm sure, because his funeral had a 21-gun salute and his granddaughter (or whomever she was) was given an American flag. I watched that funeral from our back porch when I was 6 or 7.

I occasionally talk to the lady when she comes to visit the graveyard -- which isn't very often. Last time I saw her was, IIRC, before the Fourth in 2004 or 2005. She brought a new American flag to put near the grave and a wreath to put on the headstone.

All the graves were sunk in, and I'm pretty sure I remember seeing the top of one of the coffins in one of them. My step-dad and I filled in all the graves a few years ago so they're not as bad. And the guy that was supposed to take care of the place quit because he turned into a gigantic asshole after my step-dad politely asked him not to drive his van through our yard. He could drive his mower up our hill, just not his van.

To make a long story short, guy got pissed and went to the police. They said we were in the right since he drove on our property (which is directly to the front and side of the graveyard) without permission. So, we started taking care of it and have been for about seven or eight years now.

I used to get really creeped out about that graveyard, especially around Halloween, when I was younger. But it was also pretty neat to read some of the inscriptions on the crosses and learn something about the people who were in those graves.

I visit my grandpa's grave every now and then. When he was buried, his was the only grave in that area. Now, though, he's surrounded by five or six others, and they're all pretty close to each other. Used to I'd walk right up to his headstone, but I can't stand to do that now because of the other graves around his. I hate stepping on someone's grave -- especially someone I know -- when I go there.

 

I guess the whole intentionally stepping directly on the gave thing - at least for me - is a two-pronged deal of respect and ingrained superstition. If you are doing maintenance or paying respects it's OK, but to just go randomly trodding across someone is bad ju-ju!

We have a national cemetery in town, my mom helped spearhead a deal a few years ago to get Wreaths Across America to come each Christmas to put wreaths on all the graves. That's pretty cool.