Matt and I may be a little strange (or a lot), but a couple of weeks ago, we stopped by Gaston Memorial Park.
Yes, a cemetery.
Thankfully, our time there wasn't to honor the passing of a friend. I suggested we drive through because there were some beautiful dogwoods in bloom, and I was curious to see the grounds of this massive memorial park that first opened in 1946.
When out and about in Gastonia, we frequently pass by this cemetery, and even still, it overwhelms me every time I look over at its magnitude. I can't imagine how many people must be buried there. And nearly every time we pass by, there is at least one, usually more, green funeral tents set up for a recent death. I get a little sad each time I see this, though I have come to expect it. I guess it makes the reality of people dying every day more real to me.
Ok, my point with this post isn't to be depressing, so I'll move on.
Matt and I have both always been interested in looking at grave markers and seeing what you can learn about a complete stranger. We like looking at the age differences between husbands and wives to see who "robbed the cradle" and such things. And it's always heartwarming to see couples who live to their 80s and pass away close together. You know that their love must have been so strong that they couldn't take being apart after spending such long lives together. We always say we want to be one of those couples some day.
We like finding interesting names and groups of families all together in their final resting places. It's neat to see a picture of something, like a fisherman or pet, on a tombstone - you know what that person's biggest interests were. Or bible verses, quotes, and other special writing. (One grave marker said, "How YOU doin'?" for a gentleman who passed away at a young age. We knew right then that he had a sense of humor.
At Gaston Memorial Park, the majority of graves appear to have silk flowers accompanying them. When walking through, I was curious to know if family members do this for their loved ones, or if the grounds workers there take on this task. I felt sad for the ones we saw who had no flowers and whose grave markers were covered in dirt. Had they been forgotten by loved ones? Maybe all of their loved ones had passed and there was no one left to remember them.
Anyway, it was an interesting learning experience on a warm, breezy April afternoon. It was very quiet and peaceful. We managed not to fall into the lake in the middle of the grounds there while talking with the geese. We also saw two mallards mating there. Wow. That was interesting. Thought I stepped into an episode on the Discovery Channel for a minute.
This was some of the wisteria at the memorial park.
Does Matt still qualify as a child?
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