Friday, March 9, 2012

Vechnaya Pamyat--Eternal Memory

Not this day, but  several days before, Bug went a knockin'
On Death's Door....
No, not really.  My sister in law suggested a visit to the cemetery where her and my husband's beloved and very much missed aunt is buried.  It started out as a jest.  Their other aunt and cousin had gone to the cemetery several years earlier to pay respects.  My husband's family belongs to the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and have a very deep reverence for the resting places of their dear departed.  It is not uncommon for families to come several times a month to place flowers, toys, and other markers on the graves.  Well, this one particular aunt and cousin said that when they visited the grave, they took many pictures of the cemetery.  When the films were developed, there were faces of babies and small children on the photos.  All along the roadside fence line there are graves of infants and toddlers dating back to 1910 and 1918.  A lot are from 1918 when the big flu hit.  There are so many infant graves from that time period in all the tribal cemeteries across Oklahoma.  So Jackie, my SIL, wanted to go on a ghost hunt.  We drove down to Carnegie the next morning.  Of course, my Bug came along.  No way I was leaving her out of this "spookventure". 



A lonely cemetery on a lonely road on the Oklahoma plains
Many infants and toddlers. Graves over a century old, but not forgotten.
Infant siblings, buried five apart.
Their momma and daddy.

From the elaborate monuments...


...to the humble and forgotten graves.  Notice the cobblestones.  Many of these can be found in tribal cemeteries in southwest Oklahoma, used as inexpensive markers.  Cobblestones were used in many structures.
We went for ghosts.  This blur in the dead weeds is the only one we found.  I think it's pillow fluff.

What turned into a ghost hunt ended up reminding us how much we missed aunt Sas and everyone else.  We left quiet and sad.  Maybe Jackie and I are like the monk on Eric The Viking.  We are too Christian to see the Other Side of The Veil.  Trinitarian Formula Baptism (Father, Son, Holy Ghost) short-circuited our otherworldly spiritual receptors.  LOL. Or maybe we should go back at night! We were wishing to win the lottery and then we would be ghost hunters across Oklahoma.  There are A LOT of places we could go and investigate the paranormal. Definately some more adventures to follow.  Maybe the Rainy Mountain school, or the Battle of the Washita...lots of places...

In the meantime...


Bug and aunt Sas.
Eternal be her memory
Eternal be her memory
Eternal be
Her
Memory
Amen.






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