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Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween... Remember...

 Happy Halloween. While in Stockbridge MA recently I was drawn to the cemetery. Maybe one of the oldest, best kept I've seen.
We reverently walked among the lovely tombstones reading about the lives that came before us. I took many pictures because they were so stirring, but will share a few with you. Maybe if you click and enlarge them you can see the details too.

Allow me to share with you some of the etched sentiments on the ones I could read...
Wife of... died 1782
Mortals while in this silent tomb
her day cold corps doth rest
her virtues long on earth
In between her soul is blest


I love this one, simple but telling:  " She hath done what she could"

 this one was so interesting to me because of the different fonts used to tell the story.
Really each headstone was a work of art. Who carved them? and how wonderful that someone took the time and money to memorialize their loved one.
How many people walked here before us.
 I love history.
I am not including them all, and my pictures don't do them justice,  but they were art y'all.
Standing, disintegrating  art. The words from 1700's probably being destroyed by pollution or car exhaust, maybe just time and the elements.

On another: Abigail died in 1772, in her  59th year 
"Come hither mortals cast an eye
then go thy way prepare to die
here read thy doom for die thou must
(and here the tombstone was being swallowed by the earth...)
-----------------you to dust.

We stayed at least a half hour or more, then Cole said, er, can we move on now?? It's getting chilly...
 Across the street was this house, for all those afraid of the number 13
I'll leave you this Halloween with this last picture, of a "dead" tree trying to come back. The life coming from death struck me as important. 


6 comments:

  1. Sounds creepy... but I love old cemeteries. The stones are so beautiful and interesting. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Oh, where did my comment go........into the great beyond!

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  3. Hi LeeAnna,
    So much history, stories untold to read there.
    Visiting an old cemetery is enriching.
    Take care,
    Joanne

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  4. There is something beautifully haunting about old cemeteries.

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  5. I agree ... love old cemeteries, especially when I find relatives. The sad thing these days, though, is that many people choose cremation and no cemetery and no stone to mark. You know we've done a lot of family history and those stones have a wealth of information, not to mention some that are such treasures allowing us a peak at their personalities. Pat

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