Posted on 05/20/2002 11:51:12 PM PDT by acnielsen guy
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I had metioned earlier in the day, that I was returning from the store, and passed by the Woodlawn Cemetary, near me, the one on the corner of Mullen, and Ruddell Rd...as I passed I noticed a few cars there with women and a group of children putting flowers and flags on each and every grave...it sure looked nice, and stirred my heart to see these little kids doing such a wonderful thing...
And now some smart aleck creeps have to do such a terrible thing to a different cemetary..
I hope they catch the creeps, and penalize them bigtime, and if they are kids, make their parents pay for replacing everything that was vandalized...
I will be sure to watch the news this evening, and get tomorrows paper...this whole incident just makes me sick...thanks for the report...
I was thinking earlier in the day today, that sometimes I regret having my son buried down in California, that I would like him to be a little nearer, when I feel the urge to visit with him...
But we had him buried down in California, near Elk, in northern Cal, because my husband was still in the military, and we did not know at the time of my sons death, that we would have settled here in Western Washington...
So we had my son buried in a little Catholic country cemetary, on the coast, overlooking the ocean, and buried right next to his favorite uncle...its just fifty miles away from where my parents lived, and where I still have many relatives...so I was comfortable with having buried down there because I knew we would be down there to visit...
But today, I had regretted that decision, when I saw all those little kids decorating the graves around here..I wanted my son nearby...
But after these reports of vandalism, now I am glad my son is buried where he is(Tho, there is no guarantee that vandalism would not occur there)...
In fact, the next time my hubby and I go down to California for a visit, hopefully this fall, we were going to go to the local Catholic Church which owns the cemetary and buy two plots, one for me and one for the hubby.....
Now we are not practicing Catholics...but my husband was baptized and made his communion and confirmation in the Catholic Church..I was raised a Methodist...but when it came to baptizing our boys, we did it in the Catholic Church because of my husbands grandmother...she felt if our boys were not baptized in the Catholic Church, it would be a horrible sin...so my minister said, go ahead and have them baptized Catholic, the Methodist Church will recognize it...
The boys always went to the Methodist Church...but when Michael died, the Priest, from Madigan Hospital, said that because he was baptized Catholic, he could be buried in a Catholic cemetary...and the same goes for the hubby, that altho he is not a practicing Catholic, because he was baptized Catholic, he can also be buried in a Catholic cemetary...
But that left me out in the cold...so I talked with the priest, who said the mass for my son...he said I could also be buried in that cemetary, even, tho I had not connection to the Catholic church, ,because they would never separate a mother from her son...so I am kind of considered Catholic by proxy...
At least I know that I will be close to my son, when we rise from the dead...its a comfort for me...
And that is what I like about this cemetary, its small, its wild, its natural...
Now there are not many Catholics in this stretch of California...so there are only burials once in a while...my son died in 1985, and I think since that time, maybe only five other people have been buried there...
But this cemetary has been there since the beginning of the century, when the area, was a big lumbering area...and many of the lumber workers of that time were Irish and Italian, and most wound up buried in Cuffeys Cove...so there are tons are very old graves, and one can tell by the names, almost all are either Irish, or Italian...
And there are so many children buried there as well, being as childbirth in that remote area at the time period, and childhood diseases of the time, made for many small children buried there....somehow that is also of comfort to me, that my son is with so many other children...
The other thing I like about this cemetary, is its setting...it sits on the top of a cliff, overlooking the Pacific Ocean...its just beautiful...and in Sept. when we buried my son, you could hear and see the sea lions down below, playing on the cliffs in the ocean...a lovlier spot, I cannot think of, in which to be buried...
But what makes it lovelier still, is that I will be buried with family, and that is what is most important, as you also feel, having your own place ready for you, when you are ready for it...
I am sure that your cemetary is quite wonderful...I like those types of cemetaries, where the families show their love, by caring for their own...(Kind of reminds me of the movie 'Driving MIss Daisy', where Miss Daisy refuses to have 'perpetual care' provided by the cemetary for her husband...she wants to do the planting and care herself)
Then the minister would deliver the blessing, and we would get in line...of course, we kids had to wait, and let the elderly go first, and we were always worried that some of our favorite dishes, would be all taken by the time we got there...but that never happened...there was always more than enough for everyone...
And the fellowship was always grand...People sharing the Lord, sharing the love and respect for each other, and sharing of the food, always made one want to keep lingering...
So, see ya all tomorrow...
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