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!