Last weekend my family and I were in Ohio, the state where I was born. We visited the graves of my brother, Jim, and my mom. For 24 years Jim cleaned, flowered and cared for our mom’s grave.

 

My mom's headstone looks good at 25

My mom’s headstone looks good at 25

My sister and I will now repay him–at least in a part-time, we-live-out-of-state sort of way, by adorning his headstone.

It's fitting that in lieu of a dash, his life is marked by a shamrock. He lived with a flourish, to the very last day.

It’s fitting that in lieu of a dash, his life is marked by a shamrock. He lived with a flourish, to the very last day./Photo by Matthew Cowan

We think he’d be happy that his final resting place is beneath a big, old tree, and that he’s in a busy part of the cemetery. To his right is an infant girl. I like to think of them comforting each other.

s grave october 2014 copy

I’ve spent a lot of time at this Cleveland cemetery./Photo by Matthew Cowan

1 Comment
  1. Touching, bittersweet moment in life. Thank you for sharing.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.