Rest inPeace?
First we put Opa to "rest" at Walnut Hills Cemetery. That was in1952. Oma died in California in 1973. Mom wanted her buried next to Opa, which was her wish. Opa and Oma had been cremated, and buried at the Walnut Hills Cemetery, but that was temporary. Mom did not like them "resting" there. It should be in a more "peaceful" spot. She felt they would not like all the cars racing by- maybe the Adirondacks would suit them better? After all, SHE liked it better there. No matter Opa had never been there before, she felt he would like it better. No matter that it meant carting cement urns to the North. It was happening. They dug them up. She put the clay studded green corroded urn into the back of her station wagon that summer. It was so weighted down, that the exhaust pipe nearly hit the pavement. She was content with her decision.
She already had the plot at the Riverside Cemetery in Old Forge, New York. She had her own monument, and plot already. For years her ballet dancers had posed as "Willis" from the ballet "Giselle" at her grave as a tradition. She wanted Oma and Opa at the same spot she would be buried.
We had taken photos of the deer peacefully grazing through the monuments at the Cemetery. The river flows through there, just before it goes under Route 28 at the covered bridge and enters First Lake at Old Forge.
One time Mom had gone with her students to the grave, and there were flowers at her grave. She came home, and told Blanche, her beloved neighbor of many years. "I can't understand why someone would put flowers at my grave! I am not dead yet!"
"I did, Anneliese," Blanche replied, "Because I will die long before you!"
Every year until the year before she died Mom drove from Eagle Bay to Cincinnati, to Florida, and back. Tyll and his family lived in Honduras, and I lived in Cincinnati, and she worried about what would happen should she die in Florida. Therefore she made complete plans for her cremation, transport and burial in Riverside Cemetery upon her death. No visitation, no funeral, no nothing.
We heard she was not doing well in December, and Cassy, Erin, and Tyll were in Florida. Annalisa, Margaret and I had plane tickets to visit, but she died the day before we arrived. Before we were able to make any of our wishes known, she had been whisked away, cremated, and was en route to the North. We were left to console each other. Not a satisfying situation, but as we all knew, Mom took care of things. She was a take charge kind of person, and here again, she had wrapped it all up, and we were left without a word to say.
So each year we are only able to visit the graves of our Grandfather, Grandmother, and Mom if we also decide on a vacation into the Adirondacks. Do you think it is win-win? or is it a loss if we chose another vacation spot?
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| Walnut Hills Burial Plot |
She already had the plot at the Riverside Cemetery in Old Forge, New York. She had her own monument, and plot already. For years her ballet dancers had posed as "Willis" from the ballet "Giselle" at her grave as a tradition. She wanted Oma and Opa at the same spot she would be buried.
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| Anneliese as Giselle at her monument Riverside Cemetery |
We had taken photos of the deer peacefully grazing through the monuments at the Cemetery. The river flows through there, just before it goes under Route 28 at the covered bridge and enters First Lake at Old Forge.
One time Mom had gone with her students to the grave, and there were flowers at her grave. She came home, and told Blanche, her beloved neighbor of many years. "I can't understand why someone would put flowers at my grave! I am not dead yet!"
"I did, Anneliese," Blanche replied, "Because I will die long before you!"
Every year until the year before she died Mom drove from Eagle Bay to Cincinnati, to Florida, and back. Tyll and his family lived in Honduras, and I lived in Cincinnati, and she worried about what would happen should she die in Florida. Therefore she made complete plans for her cremation, transport and burial in Riverside Cemetery upon her death. No visitation, no funeral, no nothing.
We heard she was not doing well in December, and Cassy, Erin, and Tyll were in Florida. Annalisa, Margaret and I had plane tickets to visit, but she died the day before we arrived. Before we were able to make any of our wishes known, she had been whisked away, cremated, and was en route to the North. We were left to console each other. Not a satisfying situation, but as we all knew, Mom took care of things. She was a take charge kind of person, and here again, she had wrapped it all up, and we were left without a word to say.
So each year we are only able to visit the graves of our Grandfather, Grandmother, and Mom if we also decide on a vacation into the Adirondacks. Do you think it is win-win? or is it a loss if we chose another vacation spot?
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