Happy Birthday

To my Grandma Gayle! She would have been 84 today, but that is a wee bit old, isn't it? To celebrate, I was lucky enough to catch a ride up to Indy with my Pop, my Aunt Carin, and my Uncle Charlie. We went to Crown Hill Cemetery to visit her memorial stone.

I love love love love cemeteries. There's something so serene about being in a cemetery; it's where there cannot be a doubt in your mind that no matter how good or bad things seem now, someday they will be OK, you will be content and at rest and at peace. So for now, you might as well enjoy what you've got, right? You are alive, and someday you will not be... for me that's such a comfort! One should love what he has, whether it's happy or sad, whether he's young and healthy or old and not so-much-so anymore, whether he is alive or dead. The idea of returning into the fabric of the universe is such a peaceful one for me that I can only find solace in the arms of so many who already have. Impermanence is such a precious lesson.

I know that when we die our souls go back into everything that is, and so it always surprises me that I feel so comforted being close to the remains of loved ones. I was so happy today to find out that Grandma Gayle's ashes are buried in the area of her memorial stone... and I'm always excited about going to Dale just to sit next to Mom: Even though I know she's not really there, a part of her is, and that part was essential to her being when she was here. Now reading about the idea of entanglement in quantum physics, I can't help but believe that her remains still have a positive effect on me being close, and vice versa.

Here's a picture or two of my Grandma's memorial, and one of the cemetery, which is the third-largest non-governmented cemetery in the country.

My grandma's stone.

The area where she's buried. If you can't read, the monument says, "Dedicated to those persons of good will who have bequeathed their bodies for the advancement of medical science."

Crown Hill Cemetery.