The Pharaohs had boats to take them to the Netherworld. Some at Hope Cemetery have their lives as drivers recognized in death. Another must have liked to drive while listening to music. One has the car ready to drive the causeway to heaven. The graphics and sculptures make going to graveyards uplifting and interesting. All the dead have stories, but few have illustrations that hint of their lives. The addition of images gives those who didn’t know the person interred a hint as to their backgrounds and reminds those who do of something of importance to their loved one which they adorned to the grave in what must have been an act of love.
I didn’t know any of the people who lie in the graves. Yet, I thought of them and their contributions to the community as I walked around. The dead got a visit, albeit on generally not marked by a stone (with one exception), and I got a study of people, both living and dead. Plus, we had visited the quarry of Rock of Ages, the largest granite quarry in North America, and the geologic center of many graves
No such objects d’art at Cedar Park, a Jewish resting ground, the final journey for many in the Chaim Burg Family Circle, and for me, by marriage. Struggling to understand more about the ritual of death as I creep closer to it. Visiting a cemetery where I don’t know anyone can have benefits. No reason to shed tears.
