Tag Archives: cemetery

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Paying our respects.

November 12, 2023 Rivergirl 12 Comments

Veterans Day is important… and in this house it does not go unrecognized.

Hitting the road with our flower bouquets early yesterday morning, we set out to visit my husband’s family.

His father is buried in Maine’s largest Veteran cemetery.

Lovely well kept grounds on the top of a hill…

With mature trees and many places for peaceful reflection.

The second family member we visited was my husband’s uncle who was buried just this summer at the new Maine Veterans cemetery.

This setting is more traditional with endless rows of white headstones.

Personal endearments are allowed at the bottom…

Like the AKA Grump my husband’s cousin chose. Perfectly fitting as he was a lovable old grump.

There’s something about walking through these lines of identical markers that shatters me every time. All those service members who sacrificed for their country.

It’s beautiful… and quite humbling.

This airman made me smile. I hope he finds some coffee.

Apparently Crown Royal was more to this soldier’s taste.

Our final stop of the day wasn’t a Veterans cemetery, just a small country graveyard. Quite a few of the husband’s ancestors are buried here but we’d come to thank his other uncle who fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

It’s not often you find someone who saw all three.

💕

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A scenic drive with the dead.

June 1, 2021 Rivergirl 20 Comments

Part of our leisurely drive down the coast last week included a cruise through Laurel Hill Cemetery.

And while that might sound a little odd or off the beaten track..

I assure you we weren’t the only ones. It’s a beautiful spot and very popular with walkers as well.

I’ve always found cemeteries to be peaceful and serene places, and this one was simply gorgeous.

Meticulously maintained…

This section with perfectly trimmed hedges was especially nice.

Did I mention the dearly departed have a water view?

There were hundreds of fascinating old gravestones dating back to the 1700’s and a few modern memorials…. that to me, looked out of place.

Some of the decorative iron fencing was fabulous. For when you really don’t like your neighbors… living or dead.

Yes, if I lived closer…

I’d be taking frequent strolls with the dearly departed.

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I love my town.

April 5, 2021 Rivergirl 15 Comments

In the continuing series Small Town Life Be Different…. here are the latest missives from mine.

This was so sweet. Our local UPS man… who distributes doggie treats on his route… is in the hospital with pneumonia, so all his four legged customers posted pictures.

Because traffic alerts in the country are less about speeding and more about manure.

Every year the women of the Historical Society sew a quilt with local scenes to be auctioned off.

The Town Office bought the first one where it still hangs proudly.

Yes, I showed this to the husband. And no, he hasn’t removed his absolutely no chickens ban.

Yikes. Critters that crawl under your house and die are the worst. But I can’t say I’ve ever known one to stink of garlic. And speaking of stinking…

Word to the wise… if you think it’s your year? It most definitely is. 🤢

As he predicted, this man’s post got a whole lotta hate. He’s new to the area… and I’m guessing he isn’t going to be very popular. Buying a house in a rural part of Maine means generations of the previous owners might still be inhabiting your back 40. A man up the road from us has a cemetery from the late 1700’s on his land. He doesn’t know the family or their descendants, but lovingly cares for the plot all the same. It’s called respect.

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Yorktown National Cemetery

March 3, 2020 Rivergirl 21 Comments

The next stop on the driving tour was a solemn one.

Where I found it a sad statement on today’s society that this sign even needed to be posted.

Silence and respect is the very least we can give them.

I’ve always found cemeteries to be beautiful places.

And never fail to become emotional…. constantly close to tears.

It doesn’t matter that none of my people were here…..

They’re someone’s people.

Someone’s son, husband or father.

And they made the ultimate sacrifice for a country we all share.

Cemeteries are a perfect place for personal reflection.

And I made sure to give my veteran husband some time alone with memories of his war… and those he lost.

I have to admit I was ignorant of the tradition of coin laying. You don’t see this up our way, but almost every grave had coins on it in Yorktown.

According to legend, the coin left belongs on the gravestones of U.S. military veterans. Visitors who wish to show their respect leave coins on the headstones in different amounts. It shows their loved ones of the soldiers family that someone has come to visit the grave.

Leaving a penny means you visited and want to thank the veteran for their service. A nickel means you trained at boot camp with the deceased, while a dime suggests you served with him or her. Finally, a quarter signifies you were with the soldier when they passed away.

The origin of the tradition, like the meaning behind it, is still up for debate. But many people believe it started in America during the Vietnam War. America was having a crisis of conscience. Any discussion of the war usually devolved into a more significant discussion about politics. Leaving a coin was a way to say you appreciate the soldier’s service while avoiding an inevitable uncomfortable conversation.

I really wish I’d known this before our visit.

I would have broken my piggy bank and put a penny on each and every one.

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They’re dying to get in….

November 24, 2018 Rivergirl 25 Comments

Stop number two on day 3 was Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont.

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Yes… I said cemetery.

But not just any cemetery… au contraire mon ami. This final resting place is in Barre, Vermont… the granite capitol of the United States.

“Established in 1895, Hope Cemetery consisted of 53 acres designed and planned by the renowned landscape architect Edward P. Adams. By that time, stone cutters from all over the world, especially Italy, were flocking to Barre, Vermont, to enjoy the booming granite industry in the city. It is estimated than one out of every three memorials found across the United States was made using granite mined in Barre.”

“Barre is also known for having an uncommonly high death rate, but that, too, is related to the industry that made it famous. Silicosis, a respiratory disease that is caused by inhaling granite dust, led to an abnormal number of deaths in the area. When the Spanish Flu swept through the area, many knew that death could be just around the corner and got to work designing their own tombstones. This tradition has carried on ever since and about 75 percent of all of the tombstones found in Hope Cemetery were carved by the occupants of the graves they sit above.”

So we strolled among the dearly departed.