Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Silly, the things

that come back from my memories.....like one October day when someone came up to me and asked me if this was a real graveyard.

Happens all the time, that is the most common question we get on the display is "are those tombstones real?"

The first thing I say is.....:) Yep, I carved them out of stone myself Then, I laugh, answer their questions and maybe have them grab a FAQ sheet from the display.

But this time was different.

This time, these people meant it. The did not speak much English, but I came to understand why they asked about the graveyard being real. It seems there were they are from, the family is buried in the yard of the home. Since they could not read everything on the tombstones to know that were are fake. They genuinely wanted to know.

Is this graveyard real.

Flattered as I was, it made me think.

I do this every October for fun and the entertain myself, and I do know that I am making a realistic (kinda) graveyard from my perspective. I know that there are family plots, but I had not thought about the current cultures that actually keeping their family's bodies on the property and how seeing this would affect them.

They did seem disappointed that it was not real. It is like they found something that reminded them of their home....and it turned out to be fake. That is not the reaction that we generally get. I saw what I was doing in a different light for just a second. Which made me a bit sad and for some reason ashamed.

To this day, that conversation pops into my head from time to time. Someone says something that reminds me of it, or I am standing in the yard in the exact spot where the conversation took place, or something. Afterwards, I am left with a melancholy feeling that I just can't shake.

4 comments:

  1. Aww that is kinda' sad. You gotta' wonder what they thought about the whole thing. Did they think we were weird or disrespectful for doing that? Or did they just not understand why we do things like that? Hmm.

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  2. Hummmm, I see your point. It is one of those moments in life I wish I could do over. I was a bit stunned and did not ask them as many questions as I should have. The communication problem, even with the language barrier, was mostly my fault.

    Cheers!

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  3. When the Commission for Historic
    Cemeteries was still having meetings
    http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/OCHC/
    property owners with family cemeteries were often looking for guidance and funding. I hope they get someone to fill the commissioner spot. Kinda miss the meetings. Mort and I even went to a 2 day conference for cemetery preservation.

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  4. I am going to take a look at the link. Thanks for sending it!

    Wow, really, I think that is a great cause. I have visted so many old cemetaries that need help. In fact the Davis (family) cememtery in the south was needing funding. Although husband and I are not sure his is directly from that line. We really felt compelled to help them, just because.

    Two days with Mort at a cemetery conference. Now that would be perfect.

    Saw her and The Baron this weekend. Their place is looking fantastic - they are getting ready for this year's display!

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

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