What would you mark your grave with?

Kind of a strange topic I guess. But we were taking Tex for a walk with some friends and their dogs in a very large cemetery and as we were going along, we were trying to figure out what kind of markers we like the best.

The cemetery is beautiful. There's a paved walkway all the way through it and there are trees that you know have been there since the beginning of the cemetery; and then there are younger trees. There are fruit trees (that I am going to go back to in about 3-4 weeks to get pictures of when they bloom), and mossy ground. I'm always hesitant to go in a cemetary until I'm there and then I'm reminded how peaceful they are to me. That is, as long as I don't think about a book I read about a year ago titled "grave matters". It is honest detail of how the whole modern graveyard system works and how unpeaceful the process really is. But once it's done there's not much you can do about it and that's what I was telling myself so I could just concentrate on the nice walk.

We saw some marble spires that were about 15ft high. We saw statues of the dead in very majestic poses. There were white wooden crosses that the local native Americans place to mark their graves. Simple plaques, benches, elaborate metal figures of crosses with engravings on them. So many different ideas of how people want to be remembered and how people want to remember their loved ones.

I think it's a good idea. I understand that people like to reflect about ones they've lost. Especially as I age I see the significance of it. When you have people really involved in your life, there are moments when you want to go somewhere and be reminded of that and only that. Not that it has to be in a cemetery; but it's not a terrible place either. Makes you have a sense that we are all equal in death; it will happen to all of us.

So. I don't really know what I would want to mark my grave. So far, I think I would want something very natural and simple. My name. Dates of life. And maybe a symbol of something that means a lot to me (I'll definitely have to think of what that could be now). All of this would be on something very modest. Maybe just a really pretty stone that is carved.

No great conclusions for this post just something I was thinking about today.

In other {D} news: I'm reading a new novel titled "Like Water for Chocolate". I'll keep from describing until I'm done with it. We are looking for a house to buy, at the same time we're trying to decide if we are staying in P-Town for awhile. Did you expect anything less bizarre from us? And we are looking forward to going to Jessica's graduation in Chi-town in May. It's definitely time for me to go back to Chicago. The picture is an old barn that we explored a few weeks ago. It's not in the cemetery.