A Grave Situation

I like to wander old cemeteries. A few years before GG died she took us to a secluded cemetery down a dirt road in the East Holland, Mich., where her grandparents and some of our other ancestors are interred. Though she hadn't lived there for nearly fifty years she was able to direct us to the approximate area from memory. I was amazed. The cemetery was small, perhaps only twenty-five graves, wooded on three sides, and unmaintained except for occasional cutting of the sparse grass by some volunteer. I enjoy these connections with family past and was surprised to learn cousins who live in the area didn't know this tucked-away family plot existed. There is now only one headstone to mark the four or five family graves. Some well-meaning relative of Mom had what simple markers remained removed, and put in one larger stone with only the family name on it. Trouble is over time we are left to wonder what their personal names were. I only remember that my great-grandparents and my grandfather's sister Jane, who died at 12 in the late 1800's, are interred there.

What brought that to mind is our latest desert trip. Old trash sites reveal a bit about when and were small communities existed, often dating back to the 49ers who came across the desert seeking gold. We drove a dirt road along an old narrow gauge railroad grade, tracks now gone, and chanced upon the remnants of such a dump. We stopped to check it out, looking for clues and old glass. My friend Dale chanced to see a marker in the distance. Closer inspection revealed about eight graves, though some were spaced well apart so there may be more between, now reclaimed by weather and the desert.

Two graves were marked by old weathered wooden crosses. We saw no fresh footprints in the area so the fresh tracks you see were made by us. You can see from the bushes that the desert is slowly reclaiming the resting place of these early settlers to this valley.


The other sites had stone markers. This broken headstone was laying flat on the sand. We traverse the desert in relative ease. These early settlers had it rough and often lived short lives.