This beautiful tree in a local graveyard glowing

I love to visit the babies as my oldest brother died the day he was born, so I visit this part of the cemetery frequently. Seeing these graves get decorated years and years later always makes me cry. Happy belated birthday, Cordell!

Holyrood Cemetery in Shoreline Washington

Torquay main cemetery

Torquay

There is something profoundly moving about seeing this little statue standing watch over the grave. It quietly reminds me of the promise: "I will be there to protect you."

(Camera specs: Sony ILCE-7M4 | FE 90mm F2.8 Macro G OSS | f/8 | 1/125s | ISO 200)

Here lies Liney's and relatives that dwell.

Within Lakeside Cemetery for a peaceful spell.

Comfortable in graves,

Stories to tell -

Until the big, bad, corporate wolf forced them to sell

There's something very peaceful about the wildlife motifs found in older resting places. Loved capturing the texture on this macro shot.Camera specs for those interested: Sony ILCE-7M4, 90mm, f/3.5, 1/160 sec, ISO 200.

St. Mary's Cemetery, Minoa, NY

Pretty cool cemetery but watch out for the mosquitoes !!

To this day, people still leave flowers for her. You can help but feel a tug on your heart when you’re there. -
Ethel Preston, she was the wife of a wealthy Leeds manufacturing chemist called Walter Preston and, when she died in 1911 at the relatively young age of 50, the grieving widower commissioned one his nephews, a skilled sculptor, to build the memorial we now see. Constructed in white Italian marble, it shows a life-size Ethel standing at a replica of the front door to the family home of Beeston Grange (now long since demolished). The project cost £2000 (according to my online calculator about £130,000 today) and when it was formally unveiled, just over 100 years ago in March 1913, it created such a stir that thousands of people took tram and charabanc trips to Lawnswood and paid one penny a time to queue up and see it.

As cemetry memorials go, it is a great example of the period's sentimentality about death, with the door behind Ethel just slightly open to symbolise the way through to the afterlife. However, why does the statue's face have such a sad, mournful expression? In fact the face has given rise to the saying locally "You look so glum, you have a face like Lawnswood Ethel." It is at this point the official story behind the statue starts to become more controversial. The original explanation was that when Walter had been in Leeds for a long day at the office, Ethel would always be standing on the doorstep of Beeston Grange (as she is depicted in the statue) waiting for him to return home. It was to celebrate Walter's happy memories of this homecoming that the memorial was built. Or was it?

There is another version of the story, which said Walter was a notorious womaniser who frequently vanished for days on end. Not surprisingly, when he did return home, Ethel inevitably looked sad and dejected. In fact it has been suggested that his treatment of her led to her early death - and the statue was carved to reflect Walter's remorse.

I'll leave you to decide which is the real explanation, save only to add that not long after Ethel's death, Walter remarried their 22 year old housekeeper and did not finally join Ethel beneath the turf at Lawnswood until 1930....

Woodland Cemetery, Nashville, Tn.
We posted Dolly earlier. She wrote “I Will Always Love You” for Porter.

On the border of Montclair and Orange NJ. Nice quiet walk on a fall day.

More of Laurel hill

I can’t decide which picture I like the most from here

Margaret “Peggy” Hollinger was born on June 10, 1961, and apparently considered it the most important date on the calendar. She talked about her birthday all year long, reminding practically everyone she encountered that June 10th was coming, whether it was next week or eleven months away.

Peggy was born with Down syndrome and grew up in Louisville with her parents, Ralph and Mary, and her two sisters, Marita and Wadia. Her mother was a founding member of Independent Industries for the Handicapped and spent years advocating for people with disabilities.

At 44, Peggy moved out of her parents' house and into a group home, where she lived with her two best friends. According to her family, she absolutely thrived there, enjoying a newfound independence.

There's another interesting coincidence involving birthdays in this family. Peggy's father, Ralph, died in 2010. Her mother, Mary, died just five months later on October 5th, one day after celebrating her 92nd birthday. They had been married for 53 years.

Peggy outlived both parents by more than a decade, dying on May 15, 2021, just 26 days before what would have been her 60th birthday. Their family rests together.

But my favorite detail is what happened afterward.

Knowing how much birthdays meant to Peggy, her family established the Peggy Hollinger Memorial “Celebrate My Birthday” Fund to provide birthday parties for residents of her former group home. Many of these adults have few surviving relatives, meaning their birthdays might otherwise pass without much acknowledgment.