Tag: cemetery

New Tradition?

My extended family used to do a thing where a bunch of us got together on a weekend near xmas and visited the graves of most of my grandparents. We sarcastically (and a little playfully irreverently) refered to it as The Dead Relatives Tour (DRT for short).

Today, Jen and I visited my parents’ grave in Tewksbury, then visited her grandparents and her aunt’s graves in Methuen. Has a new tradition been born? Could be.

In the old days we all went out to lunch together at a restaurant near the cemetery. Today? We just went home and heated up some leftovers from yesterday’s Thanksgiving for two feast.

One of Those Sad Moments

Today had one of those moments. One of those sad moments that jump out of nowhere and make you sad.

Tomorrow would have been my parents’ 57th wedding anniversary. Instead it’s the second anniversary since she passed away and that is making me sad today.

I did go and visit her today. That made me feel a little better. It’s funny how that works, right?

We Made It

We made it through the funeral and the cemetery and the after luncheon. That’s actually still going on but it’s wrapping up.

It was painful but good. We all came unglued a few times but we are all okay. My dad did great. He left the lunch a little early but he made it nearly all the way through. I’m proud of him.

Walnut Grove Cemetery

robertjames1971's avatarRob Shoots Film

I took Dad’s camera to this location twice. The first time the film broke. The second time it jammed with about five shots left so I just rolled it up and didn’t tempt fate. Next time I’ll bring my Nikon instead but I’ll probably go black and white again because it’s spooky looking and I like spooky looking things.

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Ralph has a Last Name

On June 25th I entered a post that showed a photo of a headstone with some kind of moss growing on it.

Yesterday, while on my 30 second exposure photo shooting bonanza, I stopped by the cemetery on Grove Street in the hopes of finding a last name to go along with Ralph’s mossy headstone.

I was successful. Ralph’s last name is Harris.

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Unfortunately there are no dates listed for him or his brother Jackson, only their parents.

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His father, Samuel, was born on May 3, 1794 and died on June 1, 1874. Samuel’s wife, the former Roxgeny Woodbury, was born on April 4, 1798 and died on December 27, 1880.

There are actually five people in the family plot. There is father (note, a grounds keeping crew was cutting the grass while I was there. These stones will be looking much better kept by now):
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Mother:
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Ralph:
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Jackson:
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And Elizabeth, who I hadn’t noticed the first time I visited this family plot:
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Elizabeth has dates on her stone, 1836 – 1910. I wonder if that implies that Ralph and Jackson died at birth? I hope not.

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I have never met these people. I have no idea who they were or what they were like. It’s been over 100 years since the last date shown on the plot. Still, I just want them to know that some one is still thinking about them. Gone but not forgotten.

I was Not Flickr Robbed

Ever since Flickr released their redesign I have been using the hell out of as much of the site as I can.  I have been posting to groups more often, I have been marking more photos as favorites, I have been leaving more comments (although still not many) and I have been adding contacts galore.  Flickr includes a recommended contacts page and sometimes I will just go and add 10 or so for no reason other than they are there.  The result is a lot of really great looking stuff coming across my main page.  I’ve come across a lot of talented folks who post a lot of really interesting stuff.  I am pleased with my post-redesign Flickr experience.

Then yesterday something came across my main page that threw me.  It was a picture of a white gravestone with one word carved into it, and the letters were covered in an orange/gold colored moss.  My first thought was, I’ve seen that before.  Then, I have a pic in my photostream just like that.  Then, I wonder if it’s the same cemetery.  Then, I wonder if its the same stone.  Then, did someone steal my idea (har har).  Then, did some one steal my picture!?!?!?

No.  No one stole my picture.  I found mine in my Methuen, MA set.  It was very different.  Theirs had the name Mother on the stone.  Mine has Ralph.  Theirs had moss sprinkled across the whole word.  Mine had it clumped around a few letters.  Theirs was taken in a cemetery in… in… Chicago?  Philadelphia?  Whatever, mine was taken in the cemetery on Grove Street in Methuen and their was not.  Their photograph was awesome.  Mine was not.
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I looked at the other pictures I’ve taken that day, but I could not find the stone with Ralph’s last name. I did find that he had a brother named Jackson.

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The plot that Ralph and Jackson are in is a family plot. I like the idea of these plots, and I like the look of them too. There is one large stone with the family name on it and all of the dates. Then there is a smaller stone marking each individual.

The Gleasons are a good example of this.
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The Websters are also a good example.
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The moral of this story is simple. Just because I saw something that was worth taking a picture, doesn’t mean that if some one else photographs something similar they are stealing my idea. I am not a photographer, I am a nerd with a camera. However, that does not mean that I can’t find the things I see cool, right? Right.