Saturday, January 8, 2011

Love to Last . . .

I just love old gravestones - don`t you ? I found this beautiful heart-shaped gravestone in the old Hamilton East cemetery recently and even though I can`t read the inscription, I spent ages sitting next to it imagining . . .  Was it a devastated husband`s last symbol of love for his young wife, or a child`s grave ?
I often walk through this early Hamilton resting place and think about the people lying here - many deaths by drowning in the Waikato river, falls from horses and diseases now obliterated, not that many from old age. One that always makes me feel very sad has 4 children, aged from 6 to newborn, all lost from some unimaginable illness.

Cemeteries are excellent social barometers, if you take the time to walk through, taking notice of dates, the centuries unfold. There have been no recent burials, so much of Hamilton`s early history rest on the hillside, it is worth a visit to reflect . . .

4 comments:

Marilyn & Jeff said...

I have never seen a headstone like this, I wonder what it's story is. I too love to wander through old cemeteries, to read the inscription, to think of those that have gone. As you say, often the headstones tell story of life and times long gone.

Juliet said...

I've enjoyed catching up on your beautiful blog posts. I love the heart-shaped gravestone and thought 'I want one like that!'

betty-NZ said...

I like to wander through graveyards too and wonder at some of the meanings of the words or shapes.

Doris said...

Isn't that a beauty. I likewise would love to know the story behind such a touching headstone. Nice photo Marcia.