It happen on a hollows eve; the place was Elmwood cemetary. All the little kids were being tucked in bed with faith that God would answer the prayers they said. As the sun was setting a classroom was beginning. The students lurked through the terrors of the night, hoping to find creatures of a fright.......
Ok, that's not what really happened. But it would of been really cool if it did. It was actually a Tuesday afternoon and it was quite sunny. Me and my Honors Inquiry class were given a tour of Elmwood Cemetary by Mrs. Bodayla. Sounds frightening, doesn't it? In all honesty, it was quite humorous. We were shone really cool headstones; one of which that made the person seem quite insignificant. Her headstone read,"Dorothy Ann Whitaker: Born, Who Knows? Died,Who Cares?"
Mrs. Bodayla, whose toured many cemetaries around the world, had filled the class in on all things graveyard. She told us about how the early cemetaries were run by people of horticulture and how some cemetaries are on a grid pattern but most are usually not. The class also learned about the symbols on a headstone. Headstones with a lamb symbolizes innocence; meaning it's of a child's. Headstones that feature a tree that's chopped symbolizes a life that's been cut short. It isn't neccessarily a child's headstone but a young adult. The symbols go on and on forever.
Speaking of forever, one student felt a bit uncomfortable visiting the cemetary. She felt that it was an univiting place. As if their body may be dead and gone but their spirit lives on forever. Indeed, it did give off an univiting vibe. The bridge that leads into the cemetary can only fit one car at a time, which made it difficult for many to enter. The cemetary was nicely keep but it was centered in an urban gutter side of town. Hmmmmm. Interesting.
Another interesting fact about Elmwood cemetary is that it is the original burial place of Nathan Bedford Forest, a founding member of the KKK. Remember him back in my blog entitled "A Park to Remember". Well there just so happens to be a lot of people wanting him and his very large statue back at Elmwood cemetary and I'm one of them. The thing is, I think that Nathan would fit right in at the cemetary. His headstone would help compliment the cemetary even more. I mean, who wants a creepy spirit like Nathan Beford Forest in a public park? Because when he starts scaring all the little kids , who ya gonna call? I'll tell you who to call, GHOSTBUSTERS!!!
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Your post was very interesting, and like the other student that found the cemetery a little uncomfortable I was one that was a little hesitant to be there. I mean I never walked around cemeteries, I don’t go to the funeral because of the cemetery that the body has to “finally rest” in. As we were walking around and reading the different headstones I began to question what about it made me so uncomfortable. Of course the answer did not come then and there but days later I realized that my fear is more so of what the cemetery represents…waiting spirits. I consider myself a spiritual person and the ideas of ghost, demons and angels has intrigued me a great deal but not enough to go searching for them. I believe that they do exist and that just as Catholicism believes in purgatory…well cemeteries are my idea of purgatory. The spirits are waiting to be taken to that person’s heaven” or “hell” and until then they are roaming around waiting judgment day. So who are the people that we visited? All we know is that someone cared enough to bury and give them a head stone but we do not know their past and if they were gruesome or positive. The simple idea that someone who could have been a mass murdered (because sometimes people have lives that no one knows but themselves because who can really say they know the inner works of a person to a point of no surprise?) and we are standing in front of the grave taking pictures and smiling…the irony. Apart from the graves the cemetery was beautiful with the different trees and landscaping. I found myself imagining I was in an outside museum filled with different plaques and statues by different artists and I was the curator there to determine its value. If it were not for my vivid imagination I don’t think I could have survived the tour let alone be a fair writer about the experience later.
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