Requiescat In Pace

I’m sitting in the Felton cemetery…it’s an old cemetery, with dates going back to the 1800’s. It’s quiet and interesting and I like coming here because there’s no one around…well, no one who is going to bother me!

I’m sitting here looking out at all the markers, some fancy, some not so much. Most are very old, some more recent.

There’s gonna be two dates on your tombstone, everyone will read ‘em

All that’s gonna matter is the little dash between ‘em

Some of the markers are tilting, others have fallen over. Some are so old you can’t even read them. Some are gone, leaving no trace…

The grass is dead, the weeds are overgrown…it looks like a movie set. That’s why I like it…it’s very surreal, and very peaceful.

It’s hard not to think about the people here who died so long ago. Looking out at the various markers, which acknowledge that this person existed and for this long, I wonder about all these people…

All the lonely people, where do they all come from…

I wonder about their lives, their loves, joys, triumphs and sorrows. I wonder about their hopes and dreams, desires, faults...about their concerns, successes, failures. Real people who lived and breathed and had families.

Did the family breakdown as they came here to bury their loved one, or were they stoic?

Did they die with regrets? I think everyone has some regrets, no matter what they say. If I died right now, I’d have a few…

But then again, too few to mention…

That would be ironic if I died right now, being in a cemetery and all…

I find myself wondering how many of these people suffered; suffered from physical or mental disease. How many suffered from depression, or were bi-polar, back before they even knew what it was! A scarey thought!

Were they poor? Did they live well? Were they born here? Did they go to church? Where did they work? Would I have liked them? Would they have liked me? Did they even have families to miss them?

I sit here and I think all this, as the wind blows through the trees, and I feel a little sad.

As I look out across this old cemetery, I can almost see a family gathered ‘round a grave, with someone singing Amazing Grace, and I know that someday they’ll be gathered ‘round for me.

That sounds like a song…I’ll work on it!

Ralphie