The Cemetery...Digital Photograph

Magnolia Green Cemetery

I have spent a lot of time in cemeteries the past few months. Visiting my dad, traveling through the South. I am always amazed at how different yet the same each one is.

Back in the day, families would visit the cemetery after church on Sunday. They would share a light meal, the children would play, the adults would tend to the graves of their ancestors. Mow the grass, plant flowers, neaten things up a bit. Stories would be told during the meal. This was a way to pass down through the generations the family's past, and ensure that the graves would be maintained. 

I still see many families who go to the cemeteries passing on tradition today. When I lived in Wilmington N.C. there was a woman and her granddaughter who visited one of the cemeteries there every week. I would see the grandmother stopping at different graves telling their stories and leaving a flower or a note. Sometimes the granddaughter would have a little something or a picture that she would leave. It would warm my heart to see these two making their rounds.

Now we have caretakers to keep the cemeteries mowed and neat. Families live far and wide. Lives are busy. It is sad. It is just the way it is. I still enjoy visiting. I still try to honor those graves I see. I am always amazed by some of the angels or headstones I find. I always remember that once they all had lives and people who loved them...