The Remembrance Series: When I walk among old graves, I think about the voices struggling to endure. Someday not even stone will protect us from being forgotten. Yet, we can give these voices a little more life in a way they never could have imagined.
So please take a moment with me to remember....
Inscription:
Suffer the children to come unto me
Joseph Christie
Son of Wm. W. L. and
Jennie Bennett
Born Sept. 27th, 1869
Died May 28th, 1872
In his 3rd Year
Suffer the children to come unto me
Joseph Christie
Son of Wm. W. L. and
Jennie Bennett
Born Sept. 27th, 1869
Died May 28th, 1872
In his 3rd Year
The porcelain toy-like ornaments and flowers are fixed to the stone. Perhaps the centerpiece was once daisies with the petals long disintegrated. Something about those object keep the presence of Joseph closer. I imagine him bored with his Sunday visit to the cemetery. I imagine him sitting down to play.
(Hibernia Methodist Church Est. 1841, Chester County, Pennsylvania)
9 comments:
Beautiful and chilling as always - thanks for sharing this one. I especially like the porcelain toys - they're such an intimate touch.
Have a great weekend,
jlb
Oh...what a baby still, Joseph Christie & then he had to go.
Wow... what a story must be behind this man. Amazing what you can find in a cemetery!
Cemetaries have so many untold stories. If we only knew.
how sad is that... wonderful imagery jason.
What were they like?
Your fascination with the dead connects you with the old blood that courses through a young body with the faintest hint of ancestral thoughts.
I have spent more than my share of time in old country cemetaries looking at the graves of my ancestors. I find them beautiful if somewhat sad. It may be more than a bit macabre but the children's stones always hold the most fascination for me.
the children's stones are definately the saddest ones....so much potential, so little time....reminds us that no one is promised time certain
JLB, the toys are much better preserved than the stone. They make a striking impression.
Suzan, there is a unique aura around the graves of children.
Sonya, cemeteries are amazing places.
Steve, and I'd love to know those stories.
Angel, thanks! I try to represent the stones well in the pictures.
Mermaid, I always have felt connected. If I could believe in reincarnation, I would think that was source of these feelings.
Kaycie, one of my strongest memories of a gravestone when I was growing up was the small grave of a baby hidden under a tree. It was hard to find, because it was flat. The only words: "Our Baby."
Bev, the potential is the poignant part. We'll never know who they would've been.
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