Looking for something to do during the Covid-19 pandemic that involves getting outside but staying away from other (living) people? Why not look into find-a-grave? Eddie and I have shared our love of cemeteries since we first started dating. I think we would love them just as much, even if he wasn't a funeral director. We like the distance away from other people it gives us, yet being in a park-like atmosphere. While living in California, we we're a few steps away from the city of Colma where they dead out-number the living and coincidentally was where we shared the same employer at the sprawling high-end memorial park that is Cypress Lawn. We shared our lunch hours together, picnic style, next to the ornamental ponds, watching the ducks and geese.
Although we don't share a place of work anymore we still enjoy spending time at our local cemeteries here in Northern Michigan. We spent this last, unseasonably cold, weekend roaming cemeteries near and far looking for graves. Bent over into the arctic gusts, wiping the tears off of our wind-chapped faces, we wondered the sprawling township cemeteries of rural Michigan. Spring weather wasn't anywhere to be found but I was determined to spend some time outdoors and even better that we could help others while doing so. With the booming interest in ancestry websites, many are searching for graves in order to find records or more information about their family members. The requests sometimes have little notes of thanks from the seekers. While roaming the stones, I feel connected to these people who are alive and searching just as I feel some dedication to those who have passed and are being sought out. We wonder together, and sometimes apart to split the area. Going by rows or sometimes just a little bit of everywhere, the search is both relaxing and therapeutic. I found myself, after my skin numbed to the cold wind, feeling some how cozy in these little spots of refuge. As an empath, I wind around the memorials, searching out with my feelings and finding myself surprised by sudden bouts of sadness and celebration. Some areas make me weep and some markers make me seek out my husband to give him a warming hug as I realize how lucky we are to be together right now in this world. I envision our future shared tomb, engraved with our wedding date and the words "Together Forever".
Many times we don't find what we are looking for. The stones deteriorate with age, many go missing, and sadly some never get a marker for their spot of eternal rest. There are instances where we find the person's family members but they seem to be missing. I don't dwell on why or how. When we do find a grave, we do a fist-bump of celebration and then take down some information. Pictures of the grave are taken and Eddie uses a GPS to record the coordinates. When we get home, this information is submitted to the find-a-grave website.
This past weekend we went out 3 different times and visited 4 cemeteries. I think we we're inspired by news of an upcoming trip that has been rescheduled to visit the city where we we're married for a para-con that my sister-in-law Bridget is presenting at. Virginia City has the best graveyards and that's just the beginning of all the reasons we love that town and chose it as our destination wedding location. That's another topic for another blog! How many of my readers are into the paranormal? Please comment or message me about your interest!
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