Project365, #61: Time Travel #6 (Washington Memorial Gardens pt 3)

Last cemetery update...

As I alluded to in the previous post, while I was just using the cemetery as an opportunity for photos, I ended up having some odd feelings come to the surface. I disgust at Western/Christian funeral rites was further confirmed by what I saw as posthumous pride via oversized statues and obelisks. As a gut reaction to that initial impression, I decide to wander through and look at the simpler, less imposing graves.

A common theme throughout were large family or couple grave stones with multiple names, where often one would have a death date and the other a blank. Married couples where one spouse had already died and the other secured a spot next to them. This is when it became a somber walk rather than the planned relaxed stroll. My mind began to create stories for each name I saw. I started calculating the age at which each one had died.

Here are some memorable stories I found:

Mr. Ivery intrigued me. As you can see, there is no date of death, yet he is by himself in his plot. No-one seems to be waiting for him. I wonder if he, in his elder years, has become so preoccupied with death that he went ahead and reserved himself a seat.

 Christian was only a year old. Possibly less, as no month and day are given. The area immediately around the stone made it clear no-one visited often or, at the very least, never tried to clean it up. In this story, I imagine the parents found it too difficult to come by and stopped altogether. Soon after Christian's death they had another child who knows nothing of his or her brother.

(Sorry, I know. Things got dark towards the end of this morning's walk)

 I have no idea. I imagine the family couldn't afford a gravestone and the caretaker of the grounds allow the family to make one our of plaster or by crudely carving into rock. I can barely make sense of most of what's written here.

 Nothing to say, really. Just different than all the others.

Okay, bummer time over. Last bit. This outdated crypt sat in the back corner of the cemetery. I'm curious as the the sporadic placement of placards though. Were people concerned about their remains being left so close to someone else?

Street art Jesus watches over these folks.