Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Loved Life/ Reading About People's Lives! (Obituaries)




"Even though Tom will be greatly missed, he didn't want to be mourned, just remembered as a person who loved life."

The above was something that I read in a small town Georgia newspaper when I was visiting my Dad...I liked it so much that I jotted it down.    I always read the obituaries, don't you?  You are really reading about the LIFE of that person, how they lived, what they loved and enjoyed.  

Most of the obituaries now in the newspapers are written by someone who is in the deceased's family but I remember the obits in the Atlanta newspaper that were beautifully written by one person, Kay Powell.  I found the most wonderful article about her and you may read about her just here.


If you don't know one thing about me, you should know this: I dearly love a well written piece by a journalist.  You might not think that an obituary would come under this heading but then, you haven't read any of Kay's obituaries!

Recently, I wrote a post about seeing Venus early in the morning... the planet shone with a steady light in the sky but then, the sun came up over the trees and very quickly, Venus faded from my view.  It was still there, I just could not see it!  It reminded me of a poem and I wanted to share it with you...


I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

 
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
 
Gone where?
 
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"





Note:  1st Photo of graveyard in Monroe, Georgia, grave of the "Poppy Lady", Moina Mitchell.

Next two photos, from church in Burwash, England.

Poem by Henry Van Dyke.












41 comments:

  1. A lovely poem! Obituaries can be fascinating, i've known a few people who wrote their own to have ready when the time came.

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    1. Some of the obits that I have read makes me wish that I had known the person, they were such interesting personalities. I have read obituaries for years now, starting from when I was a kid, so...a long time!

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  2. I do love that poem. And I also enjoy reading obits. You know, the first reading I do I check to see any sign of whether they know the Lord. I enjoy reading about their life and all they did and accomplished, but did any of that matter if they didn't know Jesus.

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    1. I love the Lord but not everyone has the same experience. There are some who don't believe in God at all. I am hopeful for the soul of every person, no matter what they believe.

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  3. I lost my mom recently.... and she left behind many broken hearts. She lived life to the fullest every single day. Love this poem, thank you for sharing.

    Blessings,
    Jill

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    1. Jill, I am so sorry for your loss. Your mother sounds like a lovely lady, life to the fullest every single day. Glad you like the poem, you should think of your Mom when you read it! Blessings to you.

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  4. Obituaries are of extreme importance when starting a genealogical quest.Some ten years ago I started one with almost nothing.I was looking for my grandfather's side of the family that emigrated at the beginning of the 20th century from east Europe to America. I did it mainly with the help of obituaries. One of the descendants was a senator in Michigan.

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    1. I find this fascinating! I love to learn the background of folks and part of that is genealogy!
      I best not look too closely at my family, no telling what I might turn up! LOL!

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  5. The first time I heard that poem was when Craig Ferguson recalled his mother's funeral and that he told the minister officiating at her service that he was so grief stricken that he couldn't find the words to speak at the service. The minister gave him this poem to read - it was perfect and gave him great comfort.

    My sisters laugh at me for reading the obituaries from our home town, saying I am morbid, but it's the only way we have of knowing when someone from there passed away now. (My late father used to give me the death report when I called.) :) And it paid off recently when our late mom's best friend's husband passed away - I spotted it on the funeral home daily notices. We were able to call her with our condolences. And his obituary was awesome.

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    1. People have laughed at me for years for reading the obituaries! I don't mind, they don't know what they are missing...you are learning about people's LIVES not their deaths. Glad you were able to spot that obit of a family friend, I bet it meant a lot to her that you called. x

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  6. I love the poem, that's how life is, here today and out of site tomorrow. Live Love and laugh often. Life is short, enjoy each day as a blessing from above.

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  7. I loved that, Kay, both Kay Powell's story and that wonderful, wonderful, poem. Can't beat a good obit - friends of mine (much older, of course) search the local rags for news of contemporaries who have died. I wonder if Ms Powell has already written hers? Nice shots of Burwash too - cute little place where Rudyard Kipling's house is - http://bitaboutbritain.com/kiplings-house/

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    1. Oh yes, we have visited Bateman's several times and we LOVE it!
      Glad you like the poem too!

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  8. I agree, Kay -- a well-written obituary is a beautiful thing.

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    1. Yes, and I should have said that I enjoy all well written obituaries, not just those by Kay Powell, but I hope you got that from my post! :-)

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  9. That is a really wonderful poem, and a great message. Just because something is gone from your sight doesn't mean it is gone forever.

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    1. Glad you like the poem, it struck me that it was similar to seeing Venus one morning...it was so bright but when the sun came out, it totally disappeared from view, but of course, I knew it was still there, just not visible to my eye.

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  10. I do read the obituaries every day. Sad to say I know more and more people in them. That poem you shared is beautiful exxpecally the part that says ust at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
    there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
    ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"...So true!

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    1. The very last line of the poem is "And that is dying". Forgive me for editing that line, I don't think it is needed, I should think we could figure it out, don't you?

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  11. We don't take a news paper so no obituaries. Love walking through English church yards, our cemeteries are rather bland.

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    1. I only read the obituary page from our local paper which they have on-line! You should try it for whatever city or town you want to look for!

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  12. Thank you for the link to the story about Kay Powell. Inspiring, to say the least. I don't take a newspaper anymore so don't read the obituaries. Saturday will be the tenth anniversary of the death of my husband whom I will never stop missing.

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    1. Read the on line obituaries! You know I do!
      I am so sorry for the loss of your husband. May the love of your family give you comfort. xx

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  13. I have this writing in a book of my favourites.

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  14. The cemeteries pictures are moving. I think cemeteries are beautiful. I also like the epitaphs on some of the older stones.

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    1. I love cemeteries myself, they are so peaceful.

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  15. I read the obits every day. We live in a small town and sometimes the person who wrote the obituary does a really funny one. I also love cemeteries. I love that we have an old fashion one here that allows you to put up headstones and I enjoy reading them. Makes you remember that the person there was really somebody and not just a date. My brother is in England now and loving every minute of it! I'm enjoying his Facebook posts!

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    1. I have one obituary that was so so sweet, it was a gentlemen who was a great baker and they included a recipe of his for his favorite cake! You gotta love that, he seemed such a character!
      Love that your brother is in the UK! Hope he is having a great time. Cheers! :-)

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  16. Hi Kay - obits are so well written - I agree there ... the professional ones - and it's fun and interesting finding out how lives were lived. Love the quote and the poem ...while two of the photos remind of places near here! Good to know about Kay Powell ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Yes, I am sure you have been to Burwash! Next time you go, have a meal at the pub there, The Bear...they have the best food! :-)

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  17. It's not something I normally bother about that much but I watched Scottish singer Lulu recently explore her family tree on Who do you think you are? and it traced her grandmother to a graveyard in Glasgow. Despite being well respected and head of a sizable organization for many years the headstone was tiny,around a foot high, a foot across, making me realise, for the first time, how few of the population can afford headstones as well as funeral costs so its only a small percentage of the population that can afford a decent headstone. An obituary in the paper is a much cheaper option. It's not something I thought about wandering around graveyards in the past but both my parents were cremated and I'll probably choose that option as well so that's another three unmarked right there.
    Probably just as well only a thin slice of society is represented in graveyards or there would be no spare land left anywhere :o)

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    1. I was at the cemetery in Georgia looking for the grave of the "poppy lady" and that is why I have that photo.
      Richard's friend lives in Burwash, and we walked from town to his home and the path went through this churchyard, and it was lovely, so Richard took pictures! I can certainly understand that many prefer cremation, there is only so much land, after all. Still, for those who are buried, we need to respect the burial grounds...sad to say, many here to no, even going so far to damage and deface stones and monuments. This is wrong, period.
      Thanks for telling me about Lulu on that show! I will try to see if I can see it on YouTube. I love all the genealogy shows...you know I love non fiction books, and I love the life stories of everyone!

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  18. In answer to your question Kay. The Priest at Sandringham and other Royal chapels will have other churches and won't be solely for the Royal family.

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    1. Oh good, I am so glad...it just didn't seem right for them to have their private priests but I am only an American after all, and don't know about royalty! :-)

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  19. I saw a programme on tv yesterday called Britain's Ancient Tracks with Tony Robinson ( Channel 4 in UK). He was on an ancient trackway in Dartmoor. Devon and ended up in a tiny church called St Petrocs in Lydford. One of the tombstones is to a watchmaker who died in 1802 and has a great epitaph on it. Look at the Lydford.co.uk website and you might agree.

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    1. Hello Redhair 116 and thanks for your comment!
      I was able to find the website for the church in Lydford and I read the epitaph and you are right, it is great!
      Thanks very much for telling me about this. Now, you know you are making me want to go to Devon to see this church.
      That show, "Britain's Ancient Tracks" has some episodes on YouTube, so thanks for telling me about the show, it is most certainly the kind of thing that interests me.
      Thanks again.

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  20. I like that poem!

    I too read obituaries, though usually only those of people I knew or served when I worked at the drugstore. It's always fascinating to hear the details of their lives.

    P.S. I saw Barbara's comment above and tracked her answer and your question back to her blog. On one visit to England, my nephew and I attended Holy Communion at the Chapel Royal in St. James's Palace, London. Although it's a royal chapel, service is open to all who wish to come. I don't know if it's the same at Sandringham? Or if estate staff can attend services there?

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    1. We should ask Barbara, she could tell us!
      St James's Palace in London, how wonderful for you both to be able to attend there. It is a Royal Peculiar and it is under the jurisdiction of the Queen. Looks like she lets folks visit, even common Americans! :-O
      I like to read the obituaries. The best ones make me wish that I had known the person!


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  21. Sometimes I read the Obituaries for the same reasons that you do, Kay. Some days I barely get past the front page of the paper. But I love wandering around graveyards and reading the inscriptions on the headstones. Here in Victoria there are a lot of benches along walkways in the parks and along the Inner Harbour. Many of them have wonderful remembrances of people inscribed on plaques. Very poignant. I've read that poem before. It's very beautiful and filled with hope.

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