I never really felt the same as other people when it came to cemeteries. Some describe their experience as creepy, depressing, haunting... but all I feel is calm. When I have a rough day, I tend to walk through the cemetery on the way home. It always seems to bring me peace and comfort. There's a special type of silence that only occurs in cemeteries, one that is both empty, and filled with life. I've noticed the birds sing softer on these fields, as if conscious that souls around them are resting.
Perhaps I feel protective of the grounds. When I see a lonely stone, one without flowers and overrun by weeds, I tend to take a few minutes to clean it and say a small prayer for the soul that lives there. Don't confuse me for a religious type, but I don't see the harm in wishing the departed rest and peace.
I've come to memorize special stones, the ones with designs, or with character. There was one that the groundskeeper once pointed out to me that had been struck by lightning and stayed completely intact somehow. The only proof was the charred contact point which eventually washed away with the rain. I like to believe that was the home of a very lucky individual. Can you imagine being dead and minding your own business and then BAMN! Getting struck by lightning and not having even a crack on your stone? I wonder if he died from being struck by lighting...wouldn't the odds of that be crazy?
There are many that lived and died before my generation was ever a thought. I created a game over the years; I like to come up with stories for some of the people. I imagine the adventures they went on, the lives they lived, and eventually how their clock finally came to a stop. Most were normal tales; they grow up, fall in love and have a family, live simple lives until old age and death claims them. Some suffer from rare illnesses, that today would be considered common and quick fix with modern medicine. But the few, the brave and the bold, the ones that travel around the world, explore and discover new lands, invent new devices and so much more.
Those lives were fun to live through. These names and those soles have become my companions, and I theirs. I care for them and tend to their resting place, just as I hope someone cares for mine when I'm long gone and no longer walking on this earth. Each statue and every monolith tells a story, and I hope to live through them all.
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