Sentimental Stones

While in Abilene a few weeks ago Joey and I visited a lot of family. We had everyone covered except for our beloved grandfathers who died only months within each other. In fact, I feel like if it wasn't for them we would've never found each other. You see, Joey was away at college when his grandfather became ill. Being as close to "Big Daddy" as he was (that's what they called him), Joey left school to spend as much time with him as possible. Just a couple of months later, Big Daddy passed away. Joey decided to finish out his schooling locally, and that June, we met. In September of that year my "Papa" passed away. I, too, was very close to my grandfather and took it very hard. Deep down inside I feel it was all a part of a plan. I've always wished I was able to meet Joey's grandfather, feel it was all a part of a plan. If it wasn't for Big Daddy, Joey would never have come back home, and I may not have met him. If it wasn't for Joey, I would never be able to have handled Papa's death. Bittersweet, I guess. So obviously the only way we could "see" our grandfather's would be to visit the place their bodies lie. I don't believe there's a huge significance in the last physical location as I'm a spiritual person, but there's something soothing about it...well, when it's your family. When it's not, it's borderline creepy.


This picture is a piece of Big Daddy's stone. If you look close enough, you can see him and Joey's grandmother. We were given their wedding bands to wear, which means the world to me to know such a strong love has symbolically been passed down to us.


There's an overflow of love and emotion shown through the adornments people place on their loved one's grave markers. At first, I thought it was pointless and tacky. But once I've studied them, and realized this is someone's father, daughter, or friend, I realized if this is a piece of solace for them, I think it's beautiful.



Whereas the most elaborate markers included flowers and huge stones adorned with pictures and vases, some families can't afford that. This person only had a name plate you can see at the foot of the bed. That didn't stop the family from making the best of it.




A lot of these stones we ran saw were very old, odd, and personal.