WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER
Your donations are appreciated
Click the Pic
Support Free Republic
Posted on 04/30/2012 4:33:58 AM PDT by lowbridge
At Hillside Cemetery in Metuchen —straight ahead after the entrance and where the driveway splits —is the headstone for James Bechtold, a 50-year-old Metuchen firefighter who tragically died five years ago.
“I think his headstone speaks volumes for him,” Metuchen fire chief Robert Donnan, an old friend of Bechtold’s, told WCBS 880′s Levon Putney.
What makes his headstone so unique and hard to miss, you ask? The stone heads of Larry, Curly and Moe are sticking up from it, and it reads, “Laugh. Don’t weep.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newyork.cbslocal.com ...
Oooo, wise guy! We (me&my roomates) did that in school! And being the 300# right tackle with the shaven head, guess which role fell to me by default!
Woo woo woo woo woo! Comedy is moyda! ;^)
In the little cemetery in my hometown, a headstone reads:
“Been here and gone.
Had a good time.”
I LOVE The Stooges.Curley,before his strokes,was about the finest comedian to have ever lived.But on a headstone? I don’t think so.
A man after my (our) own heart.
R.I.P. James.
would have been really bummed if he went with Shemp
To say nothing of Joe DeRita. Good guy, lousy Stooge.
Most cemeteries have very strict rules about headstones and epitaphs. But it seems to me that there is an opportunity here for someone to really break the mold in a bunch of different ways.
Most Americans have a lot of hang ups about death and cemeteries, to the point where things become sterile, creepy, bizarre and unwholesome. Instead I can imagine a cemetery set up in a partitioned way so that in one area it can be very reverent, in another, memorable, in another celebratory, and in the last area peaceful and beautiful.
Seen as places of deep spirituality and reverence are places not found in America, to my knowledge, called ossuaries. They are chapels decorated with human bones donated for that purpose. For the uninitiated, their impact is very undeniably powerful.
A memorable place in such a cemetery would be a repository of information from the lives of the people within. In most cases prepared before their death by them, in non-volatile media meant to be viewed on request. It could as well contain digital media of the person.
The celebratory place is for the humor of the deceased to be on display, as they defined humor, to include words of wisdom, epitaphs, comments and opinions, and suggestions to others, polite and proper, or not. A place of personality.
And the last place would be one of peace, beauty and life. Not just landscaping and flowers, but places of contemplation and quietude.
The closest resemblence to such a place may be found at your local pet cemetery.
I think it was just before Easter one year when my childless aunt and uncle decided they wouldn’t be able to make it there before the holiday - so on their request I decorated their departed Toby’s grave. It being my first time in the place, I walked in amazement among the stones and Easter bunting.
Sounds kinda shmaltzy, but the sincere expressions of love and loss of those unique little personalities was touching. Couldn’t help crying, LOL.
I remember with some amusement two boys in elementary school, one being an Orthodox Jew, and the other, a “good” Catholic. A mutual friend of their noticed that as the school bus would drive past a cemetery, both of them would start praying quietly.
A great look of puzzlement for both of them when he told them that it was a pet cemetery, not a human cemetery.
No real resolution, because they both decided to see if there were any appropriate prayers for animals.
Awwwwwww...
The folks who own the pet cemetery here require flat stones that don’t impede the mower, with a period of grace for decorations at holiday times. Only the most calloused soul could make it across that repository without squeezing out a tear over the sentiments on display.
Far as asthetics, I do like cemeteries with personality. Here in the mid-south they’re quite tame, but I’ve enjoyed walks thru a few in Maine & Charleston, SC. Missed the tours in New Orleans, alas, as time there was so short.
Not a big Stooges fan - but appreciate this guy’s sense of fun! I know a fella with them tattoed almost as large as that on his back.
I just attended the annual Three Stooges Fan Club meeting two weeks ago in Fort Washington, PA (just outside of Philadelphia.) The president of the fan club opened his own Three Stooges Museum (”The Stoogeum”) a number of years ago. Before you roll your eyes, you should know that this is a world-class museum, with thousands of artifacts, including original costumes, props, artwork, personal papers (contracts, etc.) and other personal effects that belonged to the Stooges. I’m not sure if it’s against the rules for me to post the web link here, but if you google The Stoogeum, you should be able to find the site.
Perhaps it’s a message from beyond as to what Moe, Larry and Curly thought about the Three Stooges Movie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.