The Story Of A Life Is Hinted At In A Cemetery


One of my favorite places to explore is a cemetery. And it's not just because I'm married to a funeral director. The older I get and the more I love history, the more interesting graveyards become. They go from just a yard full of stones to the last stories of a person's life.


I was in a local cemetery this week looking for this particular grave. We often share the military history of our county when visitors come to our office, which includes the oldest Civil War soldier and three Medal of Honor winners. Then we learned about this tiny cemetery with a man who had served in the Revolutionary War. Now I want to learn his story and how he found his way to Iowa from North Carolina.


One of the other fascinating stones had this poem on it, one that I learned was popular all over the country at this point in time:
Remember friends as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you shall be
Prepare for death and follow me.


A handshake on a stone can mean several things - a farewell from this life to the next, a special bond between loved ones, or a symbol that the deceased was ready to move from this life to the next. Since this is the stone with the poem on it, it seems like there was a special connection between this person and those he was leaving behind.


In the 19th century, the weeping willow was a popular motif everywhere, not just in Iowa. It's a traditional sign of loss and mourning, so again we can assume there were special bonds between the deceased and their loved ones. I'm also fascinated by the precise keeping of years, months, and days back then, as though every moment of their time on earth was precious.


My heart also breaks at the graves of children. This newer stone marks an older grave for an unnamed 5-day-old baby. I can't imagine what that family was going through, and the marker is a reminder that every life is special, no matter the age.


Some of the stones in the cemetery weren't readable anymore, covered with moss, bleached by the sun, or worn away by time. Whatever the condition, I'm more aware than ever that the person buried there was a life that had a story all its own. What a lovely gift God has given us to be alive at this moment in time.

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