My Instead: I placed flowers on a random grave of two young sisters that died in 1899.
Annette and I had just
finished dinner at her place and I exclaimed that I still had to do my “instead”
for the day! Planning at some point this year to put flowers on a random grave,
I suggested to her that we find a cemetery to browse. She knew of an old graveyard
a few miles down the road on Highway 32.
We put the pedal to the
metal to get to our destination before dark. When we arrived, we quickly searched
to find some wild flowers to place on the grave. With my little bouquet in hand, Annette
and I roamed the graveyard. Within minutes, we found a grave marker for two
young sisters, Agnes and Rose. Agnes died at the age of 9 on December 31, 1899.
Rose died at 12 on March 26, 1899. Why? What happened? How did two sisters pass
in the same year, 9 months apart? The only thing that Annette and I could think
of was some kind of an epidemic. Then my mind shifted to the parents. How did
they survive themselves, losing two daughters in the same year? Losing one
would be horrible enough, but two?
After placing the
flowers on the grave to their memory, I stood there wondering about these two
girls who were plucked out of this life so young. What would have been…had they
been able to stay? Would they have married and had children and grandchildren
and so on? What kind of life would they have had? Would it have been filled
with mostly joy or hardship? So many questions...with no answers. Then my mind
shifted to my own life and all the questions that have been answered because I
lived.
One last question though…why
me and not them?
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