Lives Lived

I know I wrote about needing rest yesterday, but that is not why I decided to wander through a cemetery today. I had a list of errands to run and appointments to meet. In the midst of the errand-running, I discovered I had a bit of time to kill (ahhh...rest?). I don't know why but I've been drawn to cemeteries lately and just thought - blip material. It was blustery cold today, even thought the mercury disagreed. There was a breeze and in Chicago, the breeze makes or breaks 'decent' weather. Today it broke decent and turned it into blustery cold. Or perhaps I wasn't dressed for it, if I'd had warmer clothing on it might have felt just fine. So there I was, at the cemetery, I don't know why...freezing instead of resting.

By American standards it would be considered an old cemetery, although the oldest grave I saw was of a man born in 1774. That actually shocked me. His poor gravestone was rubbed nearly smooth and likely will be smooth in another 50 years or so. "Gone, illegible; as if he never existed," I thought. Whereas, the Conant and Shultz family graves will be legible for quite some time. In fact, I'm thinking the Shultz headstone looks fairly new, as though grandchildren put it up recently.

I can't help feeling insulted for poor Clara, His Wife, who died before Her Husband. Do you suppose that engraving said, "His Wife" for 15 years until he finally died? Or more likely old O.F. bought the stone and had his own name and birth year engraved when he buried His Wife. Do you suppose he remarried? And then where did That Wife get buried?

Poor Augustus died fighting as a chaplain in the heart of the Civil War, at age 52 of exposure, of all things. I like it when headstones explain the cause of death. You don't see that much these days. I've been telling my Taxman for years what I want on mine:

I TOLD you I was sick!

I hope he remembers. I'd die if he put "His Wife" on it - oh wait, I'd already be dead.

Big is better, BTW.