hope cemetery

On Memorial Day (and yes I realize that was almost a month ago–this is how bad I am about getting pictures off the camera), D. and I packed up the kids and went to a locally famous cemetery to gawk at the headstones and monuments. We saw the traditional angels:

and crosses:

as well as some less conventional choices:

We also found what might be very very very distant cousins:

I was greatly interested in what people chose to put on their grave markers. One was sculpted to look like the deceased couple sitting up in bed, another was shaped like a car. There were the Verbose Self-Referencing Evangelistic Pyramids and one that I specially liked that simply said, “Only to Thee, Lord, do we our well-beloved resign”.

It made me think a bit about what I’d choose to put on my gravestone (if I cared enough about it to have D. and the kids dip that much into the life insurance money, hee). I’ve always liked John Donne’s Death Be Not Proud but I suspect I’d need to come up with something pithier. Maybe, “Buy My Books” with an Amazon link??

Just kidding!

(okay, maybe just in fine print at the back of the marker…)

It was a lovely day and it was quite restful being in the cemetery. If we didn’t have two squirrely children to keep under tabs, I’d have sat in the sun and sketched and journalled. I took paper, but didn’t feel brave enough to take rubbings. I’m not sure what the etiquette of taking rubbings is?

I’d like to go again some time, just to ramble.