Imagine wandering through a cemetery. Surrounding you are lovely grounds filled with natural beauty and works of art alike. Now, look deeper at those works of art, the carefully maintained markers and monuments that fill the grounds. Many are unique, taking on diverse styles, colors, and shapes. And yet, what’s even more unique are the epitaphs carved into the exquisite stone.
All around you in a cemetery are stories, and these stories make up the legacies of the families buried within. These legacies are not only told through the thoughtful words carved into the monuments but even through the monuments themselves, the symbols that adorn them, and the gifts left behind by those who loved the person buried there. These stories are the legacies of generations of loved ones who are spending forever surrounded by love and tranquility.
In cemeteries, you’ll often find families together. They come together to grieve their losses and support one another. They also come to see those they are missing, who can no longer walk this world with them but who they always know are there. It’s not uncommon for someone to find that they feel their loved one the strongest at their burial site.
Cemeteries also take care to keep families together. It’s not uncommon for an entire section of a cemetery to have monuments inscribed with the same last name. And just like these burial plots, cemeteries also offer families the ability to stay together in above-ground structures, as well. Family mausoleums and columbariums provide one location for a family to share their eternity together. In many ways, being buried in these places provides a type of homecoming, a welcoming back to those we’ve missed and loved for so long.
A cemetery is a meeting place where introductions are made, and stories are told. Cemeteries help us understand that no one is ever really gone. They exist in the people they loved and the memories they shared, to be told as stories for generations to come.
A mother comes with her son to introduce him to his great-grandfather and tell him about his heroism during World War II. A woman brings her partner to walk amongst her family’s burial plots to see where they, too, will join one day, pointing out all the family members she’s loved throughout her life. A grandfather sits with his grandchildren in their family’s mausoleum, pointing out where his wife and parents now rest. He lets them know that one day, they will be able to find him here, too, giving them comfort to know that their beloved grandfather will never be far away.
Cemeteries are a place of connection, where the family members of our past meet the present and future members of the family. In a way, cemeteries are a place lost in time where those we loved throughout our lives can meet those who entered our lives later, a legacy of love to be shared for all time.