As we drove through the packed cemetery at a crawling pace I had a chance to look out at the vast amounts of people who were there, mourning, reflecting, and celebrating the life of their loved one. There were husbands remembering wives, mothers remembering children, grandchildren remembering grandparents, sisters remembering brothers, children remembering parents. It breaks my heart and yet it's the most beautiful thing to see families being brought together laughing & crying.
Despite the tender feelings I get when I go to the cemetery I love it there. I do. I know it's sounds crazy and so out of character for me, but I could spend hours there getting lost walking through, in and out of the graves, wondering what stories lie beneath the dirt. I especially love it there right now when there's flowers scattered about the grass and you know behind each bouquet is a tremendous amount of love. The two photos above were among my favorites.
There are times when we're all together visiting my brother's grave and my family shares stories and experiences they remember about him, but today we seemed more quiet. It can be hard to be there with my family and talk about it all. I know it seems like it would be easier since they know exactly what it feels like, but for some reason there are times that I'm at the verge of loosing it and to see them brings it all back so I try to distance myself. Today seemed like one of those days so I was grateful for the quiet, grateful to be able to hide behind my camera for a bit.
As we walked from my brother's grave to all of my grandparent's graves I watched my family up ahead of me and felt truly grateful to have them in my life. We're a hodge-podge group with our good days and bad, but they're mine, apart of the person I am, and I love them dearly. Wish my sister could have been with us.
It was a good evening.
The best kind.
I hope you all have a fabulous holiday weekend.
