by Anita Gillespie

Created on: April 14, 2008

Rest in Peace. Many of us do not think of a cemetery as being a peaceful place. Somber, quiet, morbid...all hold true when we consider the places where so many lives have come to rest. Rows and columns of simple markers which attempt to condense an entire life down to a few eloquent words. However, do any of us think of retiring there for an afternoon of rest and relaxation?

For so many people, cemeteries represent the moments of their greatest loss. They may bring to mind a mother taken without explanation, a child lost in a tragic accident, weeks or months of caring for someone who fought every step of leaving this world. As we make our way to the side of a grave it is nearly impossible to deny the fleeting lives we have in this world, the minimal time we have to make an impression, to leave a mark, to be more than a stone with a few etched words.

I visit my brothers there, they lay beside my grandparents. A nearby funeral home is ran by a wonderful man that recognizes members of my family on sight, even at the grocery store. We lost so many in so short of a time. The loss is not made more gentle through speed or circumstance. We can only pray that they Rest in Peace.

Before my grandfather passed away, we would drive near the cemetery on our way to errands. When I noticed he began to wave I realized he would be leaving soon. A few weeks later we were planning his funeral, his marker, his remembrance. I knew that he was fine with where he would be. He is not alone, he is kept in fine company by many special people that I have known and loved.

What we have placed there is like the markers, only a simple representation of the person. The lives and ideas have moved on, changed, become more than they first were. While the rest of us continue on our own paths...stressing, striving, and pushing for our mark, so many others have moved beyond. They have moved to a time of peace, of rest, where they no longer are distracted by the pains and frustrations of this world.

So, visit as you will, and remind yourself of their life. Find the peace and rest that they share with us when we take a moment to leave flowers at their marker, or even to wave as we go by.

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