"... we are gathered here...."
Have you ever heard of the word,
Taphophile?
It is a term that applies to someone who has a passion for and an enjoyment of cemeteries... it appears that almost everything has a word for it... I must be a 'taphophile'... I love going through cemeteries... the older the better. I really like looking at old tombstones...
What would a ~shoes~ post be without a music video?
Here is my mostest favoritest tombstone song...
Embedding is disabled for it so you have to click...
HERE...
Please do... it's a great song...
Anyway...
I found this interesting photo of
the headstone of
'Bernard P. Hopkins'
Someone must have loved him... this headstone was installed...
However...
Someone also installed this one below it...
... and it appears to have been there for sometime.
A long time...
Could you do something like this to a family member?
Would you do something like this to a family member??
I have heard of funerals for people where no one was sad...
No tears were shed...
I have become a firm believer of what this image above says...
We can fall prey to words...
... but if we just watch them...
We learn everything we need to know.
I would like to know, though,
if you could or would do something like
this to a deceased family member's grave.
~shoes~
Red, I totally agree w/you.. You would love our cemetery.. In the old days our city (town) was a considered cowboy.. yep.. We have well known trails, arrowheads, William S. Hart... Our cemetery has the coolest tombstones and statues... Zane Grey has a garden named after him w/a select few burials... Cemeteries have history and its one of the best places for photography shoots...
ReplyDeleteAs far as the inscription, why not? Its probably the truth and I know u see the humor, right? :-)
DeleteHi, Chris... yes, I would love to see some of the old cemeteries out West... there where you are...
DeleteThere is poetry to some of those places... some of those burials... the alpha and the omega...
Of course I see the humor.. but it's also very true...
~shoes~
Tombstone tourist=taphophile
ReplyDeleteWhy do we love cemeteries so?
I just do. Peaceful and a history lesson for me. I have been searching in Elmwood Cemetery for my mom's and my future resting spot. Somewhere on the Confederate side because it is the most beautiful and under a tree.
Would I ever put something like that on a gravestone? Never. Because it shows my shallowness and how they got one over on me in the end.
People know whom they are. I recently let go for good of a narcissist. When did I figure out he was a narcissist? Two weeks into the relationship. But the rescuer in me wanted to try to make it work out. What a fool I was...so as to ur actions determine who they really are than words is so true. But we already know that--no? We just want to give everyone them the benefit but it is we who suffer in the end.
Cemeteries are where I spend my vacation days. Mostly southern ones. In fact, I listed a few that me and the Professor should like to visit in future years.
I hope u are well. I hope things have been panning out for u in the health and work area.
Life sure has a way of changing the course we thought we would take in life. No???
"Why do we love cemeteries so?"
DeleteBecause there is an inner peace there?
Because we all know that insome form or fashion that is where we are all heading some day... some sooner than others....???
As Green Monkey said on her blog...
"There is nothing special about dying. We all do it. It's how we live that counts."
That is so true...
~shoes~
The dash is what counts. 02/21/1966 - ??/??/???? I recently asked my friend "Why do you take me for granted?" "Why do you assume I will always be here on Earth?" And I said, "One day, u will have to come visit me at Elmwood Cemetery but then I will be unable to answer u. Death has a way of coming quickly. Quicker than we imagine. I don't want to look back with regrets. I have loved. Sometimes the love has not been returned but that does not mean I should stop loving. It means I should carry on because there are others out there whom need love and they will love me back. It is the dash that counts Professor Red Shoes. The dash. There will be a day that comes when only the tears will drop on the gravestone for a love lost. But today I choose to love those in my life and enjoy them.
DeleteCemeteries are a most beautiful serene place. Professor and I walk there ever weekend. And I love these times we have together. Quiet and peacefulness.
It IS the dash.... what happens between the birth and the death of anyone...
DeleteI saw earlier today that Zeke Logan, one of my favorite Memphis DJs died today... he was just diagnosed with cancer... didn't take long to claim him...
One of my favorite songs is 'Carved in Stone'... the subdudes... about a friend of theirs who died...
But we do carry on...
~shoes~
Hello Shoes~~
ReplyDeleteI am 100% a taphophile. I could spend all day in old cemeteries just walking, reading and wondering about the people buried there. It's fascinating.
For a minute there I thought the second stone might be on my son't father's grave..LOL. The answer to your question is NO WAY would I do that to someone. That's a pretty vindictive thing to do which means you haven't let go of your anger which means you are a very unhappy individual!!! I chose to let go and move on. Great post.
"For a minute there I thought the second stone might be on my son't father's grave..LOL."
DeleteThose bastards get to us... don't they??
HAR!!!
You seem happy!!
~shoes~
No, I would NOT. Some of my family members were tough. As in tough to love, but still... no way. I think that stone below the stone says more about the person who commissioned it than the person in the ground. Whoa.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Ms Robin...
DeleteI think you are right about the comment about it saying more about who put it there... than who is below it... however, that headstone has been there some time... and no one sought to remove it...
How has everything been with you?
~shoes~
My daughter's father turned me on to looking at old tombstones. I thought it'd be depressing and a drag, but it wasn't. We even took the kids and "etched" them which was pretty cool too.
ReplyDeleteWould I put a hateful message on someone's grave? Hmm. I'd like to say no but what if they murdered my loved one or committed some other terrible atrocity? I don't know. Probably not, because odds are, someone loves them, like a kid, but…I can't say for certain.
I just can't stand when people despise someone in life but then in death they were the perfect person…makes no sense. Bad people are bad people. In life and death.
Hi there, Elsie... it really isn't depressing...I find them peaceful... I really love the ones in New Orleans... I just wonder at times about seeing people walking... and then their suddenly being gone.. ghosts maybe?
DeleteHow have you been?
~shoes~
I agree. There is something about visiting my first hubby's grave that brings me great peace and a flood of wonderful memories. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw spirits walking among the tombstones.
DeleteI'm doing really well, shoes. My health is improving, I'm busy, busy at work and life is good. I hope you are well.
My wife and I love exploring old cemeteries. In New England, there were zillions of them. There is a great one in Key West, Florida, complete with sayings, good and bad. Of course, Tombstone, Arizona is amusing.
ReplyDeleteHi there, JJ... good evening...
DeleteYou know, one cemetery that still stands out in my memory was one in the Financial District. within throwing distance of the World Trade Center towers.. grave sites dating back to the Revolutionary War...
I want to visit more of the old ones...
There is a great old one in Savannah I would love to see...
~shoes~
SHOES!!! My little taphophile! Are we moving on from statues to gravestones? Mind you, a fair few lovely statues can be found in cemeteries. I love old, old churchyard with gravestones in old English, they're fascinating.
ReplyDeleteNo - I would never leave a tombstone like that though it did make me laugh! If someones pissed you off that much then I wouldn't even attend the funeral or give them a second thought. Clearly someone to whom he caused a lot of pain and they felt they had to have the last word. Kinda pointless.
Julessssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!
DeleteI bet there are some outrageous cemeteries there in your part of the world... I wish I had felt better when I was in Europe a couple of years ago.. there was one really nice cemetery in Holland I wanted to explore... but I am sure there were many many more...
Some of the great old cememteries in New Orleans and other southern locations are finding that the funerary statues are being stolen... it seems that many of them are showing up out in San Francisco...
How have you been, dear? Pretty ok??
~shoes~
Fortunately, I don't have a deserving family member.
ReplyDeleteForgive, forget, move on. One, all or any variant of the three. What a waste of time and money.
Hi there, Steve... you are exactly right.. your sentiments match what others have said...
Delete~shoes~
I adore visiting cemeteries, especially old ones. There is something spiritual about them.
ReplyDeleteWhile not overly fond of some family, I wouldn't do that. A couple of previous employers and co- workers though - Oh! YES! ;)
Hi there, Nitebyrd... I really love them... I see old cemeteries... and I make note of them... I like to walk through them... I find them peaceful...
DeleteYou may not would do 'that,' but I would... ;o)
~shoes~
An enjoyment of cemeteries... as in an unhealthy an enjoyment of cemeteries? O darn.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Grumpster, my friend...
DeleteWell... not unhealthy from the standpoint of Baron Von Frankenstein or Igor... you know.. running around digging up body parts and stuff...
That could be bad news...
How are things with you?
Pretty ok??
~shoes~
no, I would not but I would blog about it.
ReplyDeleteHi there, Monkey.. See, I would do it and NOT blog about it...
DeleteHow are you?
~shoes~
Why bother? It doesn't change who they were. Let it go and move forward=) I love cemeteries too,
ReplyDeleteHey you... I hope all is well with you... I've been ill and coping with work issues... just about to climb out of the funk...
DeleteHow have you been??
I do like cemeteries...
~shoes~