Friday, April 15, 2016

Path of blossoms, closure and her story

- The shedding dogwood tree leaves a lovely blossom path.  Late afternoon at Crestlawn Cemetery in Atlanta.  When I blogged about looking for my beloved late great aunt's grave in February - post found here - I didn't mention that when I found her grave, it didn't have a date of death on it, and she passed away in 1983.  My cousin asked if I was certain that she was actually buried there, but I attended the graveside service back then, so the answer was yes.  The gravestone is one of those double ones - husband on one side, wife on the other.  Her husband died in the late 1960s and at that time, her name was put on the stone, too, + her date of birth, just awaiting her death.  It looks as if no one ever followed up on that after her death; the cemetery owners assuring me that no one ever paid to have that done.  Hmmm.  I had no way of proving that (cousin's father - the executor of her will - has also passed away), so I enlisted my sisters help and we paid to have her date of death put in place.  I went to see it yesterday afternoon and her date of death has been added now.  I feel better.  I knew her well enough to know, that would have bothered her. This is she, below, the laughing woman on the right (click to enlarge):

 - Aunt H and her friend were on a trip to London (early 1970s, I think) and someone snapped a photo of them on the street.  She lived in the Candler Park neighborhood in Atlanta in a house with a big front porch.  I liked to sit there with her in the porch swing. We were each others only relative in Atlanta; she had no children.  I told the cemetery representative her story, so he would know she wasn't just another name on a sea of gravestones.  She worked for Rich's Department Store for 30 years, in the flagship store in downtown Atlanta.  She always dressed very stylishly, in beautiful suits.  I remember going with her to Rich's for suit shopping once - she chose a lovely, peach one she had had her eye on, and then we went to dinner.  She passed away not long after that.  I miss her very much and was so glad to put some closure on her final resting place, where her body rests next to her beloved Clarence.


A sentimental post today. The photo above is just one I love, taken in Thomasville, Georgia, a few years ago.  It seemed like a good note to end on this morning.  Hope you have a lovely weekend, my friends!

17 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

It's nice that you were able to have her date of death added to the stone.

I love the top photo.

sage said...

Glad you were able to add her date of death to the stone.

Cloudia said...

We both posted 'the path' today! Lovely to remember those we care about

Kay G. said...

Oh! I might have even seen her at Rich's in downtown Atlanta! Did she work there in the 60's and 70's?
I am so glad that you had the date added to the stone. That should give you such a quiet satisfaction that is ...well, it is priceless!

Debra She Who Seeks said...

That was a lovely (and loving) gesture to make for your great aunt.

Louvregirl said...

"I went to see it yesterday afternoon and her date of death has been added now. I feel better." Lovely post (here) Lynn! I, too, am nostalgic for the past and so wish things like "I wish I would have known my Grandma Mable (when she was a women in her 20's.)" She was a "flapper" (I have learned this from my Aunt and Mother...and I have never seen a photo of her in her 'dancing get-up.' God~ I would have loved this! apparently, she 'danced' as a young women. I so appreciated your post and could 'see' your aunt tooling around Paris...in a beautiful and stylish outfit...Karen ;-) Great post! Not too sad...just right, I think! ;-)

Lynn said...

Crafty Green Poet -

Thank you - that ended up being a somber looking photo, which is fine for a post about a cemetery.

Sage -

Me, too.

Cloudia -

I saw that - your post is lovely.

Kay -

You might have - she always worked in the bath department. I think she would have retired when she was 65 years old - so around 1972.

Debra -

Thank you - she would have done the same for me. I feel terribly guilty that I've never visited her grave until now.

Lynn said...

Thanks, lg! I love the outfit she is wearing in that photo - with her sweater lightly draped around her shoulders.

Sparkling Red said...

Yes, that certainly is an important detail to take care of.
My husband's grandfather bought a cemetery plot next to those of his siblings. Then he had a falling out with one of his brothers, so he decided to buy a new plot in a different cemetery, and now he's buried there. There's still a stone on the other, empty plot, with his birth date and no death date. My husband thinks that people will walk past the spot many years from now and wonder how this ancient gentleman could possibly still be alive!

Elephant's Child said...

That was a truly lovely gesture. Thank you - and I am very glad that you feel better for making it.

Lee said...

That was very a thoughtful gestured; for you to arrange for the dates to be put on your beloved great-aunt's grave stone, Lynn.

Wonderful memories cherished by you.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Lynn - such a good post and I'm so glad you gave finish to a life well lived ... you will all be pleased and comforted in knowing that final touch has been made ... When my uncle died he had arranged that his date would be put on the stone and then it would be in place with his beloved's wife name already inscribed ... it is there - and I too go past occasionally and sit in the Churchyard ...

Lovely post - sad, but beautiful .. cheers Hilary

Granny Annie said...

You are a good niece to see that your great aunt's passing was memorialized.

Fireblossom said...

We had one of those years here, where the dogwoods just began to blossom and then we had a hard freeze, turning all the little blossoms shriveled and brown. It's too bad. (And now it's gorgeous. Figures!)

Lynn said...

Sparkling Red -

Another great aunt (they were both my paternal grandmother's sisters) purchased a plot near hers - probably at the same time she purchase she and Uncle Clarence's grave plots. I was so surprised to see her husband's grave there, but she is buried in New Orleans (where she moved to live near her son.) It looks kind of sad to have the other side blank (her name was not added at the time of his death, but there is one of those sentimental "Together forever" cheruby things on it.

Elephant's Child -

Thank you - I just wanted to make this a tribute of sorts - she was such a wonderful lady. I don't want to make it seem as if I am patting myself on the back, since I neglected to visit for so long.

Lee -

Thank you - wish I could have done this sooner.

Hilary -

I am comforted - thank you.

Granny Annie -

I try, but need to be better.

FB -

I imagine that happens a lot in the north. I hear from Kim (Talon) of crocuses in the snow in Canada.

G. B. Miller said...

Excellent! So nice to know there are still truly caring and thoughtful people in the world today.

Father Nature's Corner

Snaggle Tooth said...

Wonderful you did your Aunt that service! I wrote to my last living Aunt recently, I miss her so much n now can't travel to see her. i know they feel the love!