Finding a Grave

We went looking for this grave after seeing a request on Find a Grave.

After some help from “Big Bad John” at the cemetery office, we found it. (The office for Cypress Grove is across City Park Avenue in Greenwood Cemetery.) Turns out I could have just gone to the website and done the search myself.

I took a photo, posted it, and quickly got a note of thanks from the requester in South Carolina.

An old friend from high school, Georgie, pointed me to Find a Grave after noticing that we seem to visit the local cemeteries a lot. And it’s true — since we moved a year a go we’re closer the city’s big cluster of thirteen or so cemeteries. They’re closer than the park, very peaceful, and plenty interesting. Persephone likes to look for “fall down flowers” and put them back in their vases. I just enjoy the general atmosphere. If I can also take a photograph that will help someone in a remote place with their family tree, that just adds to the fun.

I did notice that the Cypress Grove and Greenwood Cemeteries were both much more crowded than usual, probably because All Saints Day is approaching. It falls on a Monday this year. All Saints is still a big deal in this Catholic city, a time to remember ancestors and spruce up the family tomb. It used to be a holiday at the University, but it seems to have fallen off the calendar in recent years. Xy also works for a Catholic school, yet they aren’t taking the day off either. That’s a shame in my opinion.