Annie Laura
Wife of W.W. Johnson
October 10, 1865
December 20, 1919
December 20, 1919
Not too far from where I live, there is an old cemetery that has been there as long as I can remember... and this beautiful angel stands guard over a grave.
Regardless of the weather, she was always standing there... she became a landmark that I would look for...
The other day, I stopped to see her... and take these images of her...
The statuary looks older than the headstone on which she is mounted. I wonder what the story is? Did the original headstone break or have some flaw in it?? The headstone says she is the wife of W. W. Johnson... yet he isn't buried there...
What great loves did Annie Laura experience in her life time? What great heartbreaks?? What happiness... what sadness???
It doesn't matter now, I guess...
She has a wonderful guardian.
~shoes~
I am a collector of angels... spiritual and physical. My house is full of them... I would love to be watched over by such a beautiful figure as that as I pass on to the next journey. We have an old cemetery here as well that is loaded with beautiful piece.. they actually give tours and tell the stories of the deceased. So interesting. We find beauty in the strangest places sometimes !
ReplyDeleteHi there Flying... there is a great cemetery in Memphis I need to get up to see... Elmwood... Civil War generals are buried there... many of the Memphis population that died during the Yellow Fever Epidemic are buried there... and each Hallowe'en, they offer guided tours, where some of the 'residents' step out of the dark to talk about themselves...
DeleteI wonder if any real ghosts ever appear?
~shoes~
That is the great mystery of cemeteries. Everyone who is long gone lived this big story, but it now just whispers on the wind so quietly that you can almost hear it, but not quite.
ReplyDeleteHi, Robin... yes... and like at Caile, I like to say their names aloud.. thinking that somewhere... they feel or sense that their names are being said... they are being remembered... and as someone noticed on an earlier post of mine, that an individual is never really dead or gone as long as they are remembered.
DeleteHow are you doing, dear?
~shoes~
This sounds like the making of an interesting novel.
ReplyDeleteStephen... amazing... that is your writer's mind at work... I never saw it, yet you picked up on it right off the bat.
DeleteThis is obviously why some people are great writers... and people like me just string words together...
~shoes~
I love angels and am a firm believer in them. Interesting, all the stories that we can come up with regarding the woman buried there.
ReplyDeleteHi, Yvonne... I am becoming more and more a believer of angels... especially guardian angels...
DeleteI think cemeteries... especially the older ones... are really interesting. I am not sure why I find the old ones more interesting....
How are you today??
~shoes~
I love Elmwood. "Professor" Alex and I walk their every weekend if the weather is good. I have a video of a tombstone that has a dragonfly on it. And this last week, I found the most interesting sculpture that I had never seen before. It must be new. And beautiful. I wish I could upload the video because it has Alex on it and his tail is just a wagging as he runs in between all the gravestones. He loves these walks. And I get a history lesson from it too. I inquired a couple of years ago about being buried there perferrable on the side where the Confederate soldiers are and Shelby Foote and his wife. And there are plots u can buy due to the fact that the graves are very very old and some moved away or got buried elsewhere. I don't know where I will be buried either there on in my family's plot in Greenwood, MS. Who know where one will end up?
ReplyDeleteHi there, Stormy... Yes, Elmwood is the shiznits...
DeleteIt's been a while since I've visited there, but I would like to get back and go through it...
I'm leaning towards cremation... I won't know the difference...
~shoes~
I have a certain fascination for cemeteries... not sure why...
ReplyDeleteHi there, Ana... there is something about them that speak to me... especially the older ones.
DeleteHow have you been?
~shoes~
Statues and cemecery... they'll live on when we're long gone. I have the same feeling when I look at old trees. They were there before I was born and will be there when I'm gone. A sobering though, Shoes.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Grumpster... yes, I saw the neatest old cemetery just outside of Maastricht... where I wish I had taken photos... by that point of the trip, I was feeling so ill... fabulous headstones....
DeleteI think about those fantastic mesas at Monument Valley... that have been there for millions and millions of years,, and will be after I am long gone.
Yes, Grumpster... very sobering...
~shoes~
Sometimes sobering is what we need, my friend. :)
DeleteBeautiful. Thanks for sharing. Also your sister's pic. She looks like Jackie Onassis.
ReplyDeleteHey you... you are welcome!!
DeleteAs for Jane, yes she did... when we would travel, she would often be approached... especially by black women... thinking that the was Jackie Kennedy...
~shoes~
Elmwood is beautiful and peaceful. I understand about cremation. All my pets have been cremated. I was going to be cremated but know want a unique gravestone so that people can ponder about me and my loved ones can have a place to visit. Hopefully, someone will plant a rosy color rose bush and tend to it.
ReplyDeleteThe Halloween at Elmwood would be awesome. I need to attend that one this year.
I found that sculpture I saw was new. A young man of 19 years passed a few years ago. Max Rose. Look it up. The sculpture is 13 feet tall.
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ReplyDeleteThere is a little angel in a cemetery in my hometown that I have visited on occasion since I was maybe 16 or 17. She watches over a little girl who passed when she was only a few months old. I always have felt like Stephanie and her angel are kind of my guardian angels also.
ReplyDeleteI may have to stop and visit her soon and get some good pictures. This is very inspirational.
Don't you just want to hear all their stories? Cemeteries should be like libraries but instead of a library card you get your smart phone and plug into all their info on their tombstone/statue...yes, everyone's life story. That'd be cool. :)
ReplyDeleteA very beautiful & exquisite statue. I always feel a certain calmness whenever I see an angel statue.
ReplyDelete"Red Shoe's Chronicles" has been included in Friday's Sites To See for this week. Be assured that I hope this helps to point many new visitors in your direction.
ReplyDeletehttp://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2014/04/fridays-sites-to-see_11.html
Shoes: See if you can guess what I am thinking. Be well, my friend.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering how you were doing.
ReplyDeleteCemeteries are lovely places to explore. Glad you shared this. Found you via Robin at Your daily Dose.
ReplyDelete