Page 8 - Demo

6As I%u2019ve been working on this project, I%u2019ve had people tell me that cemeteries make them uncomfortable. To which I reply that cemeteries certainly evoke thoughts of death%u2014but they are also places we can go to quietly remember all the pleasant memories of the friends and relatives who have gone before. And, even though we don%u2019t like to dwell on our own mortality, death is our most basic fact of life%u2014a passage of such magnitude and mystery, of such finality and inevitability, that cultures feel compelled to mark it with some type of ritual. Cemeteries are an important part of that ritualAlthough many of today%u2019s cemeteries have a serene and calming, park-like atmosphere, the concept of a spacious, attractive, landscaped burial ground is only 200 years old, with the first%u2014P%u00e8re Lachaise%u2014being established in Paris, France in 1804. Previously, Christian cemeteries (particularly in Europe) tended to be morbid, gothic places of loathsomeness and fear, with terrifying images of death and Hell. But the concept behind P%u00e8re Lachaise was completely different. Instead of being run by the Church, it was a secular, municipal concern, designed with rolling hills, winding lanes, and plenty of trees. Because the plots could be purchased by individual families, permanent monuments, dedicated to the memory of fathers, mothers, and children, were soon being erected. There was no longer the likelihood that others would be buried on top of your deceased relatives, or that a church official would disallow a particular monument%u2019s design. With this new freedom, people with sufficient financial resources began contracting for large and elaborate monuments, memorials, and tombs. The skills of sculptors and journeymen stone carvers were employed in the creation of majestic angels, mourning women, fallen doves, innocent children, and much more. Understandably, the general public, particularly the middle classes, quickly embraced these new garden cemeteries, and they were soon established all over Europe. In an era when public parks were still few and far between, cemeteries became popular openair places to congregate. People began picnicking, having secret meetings%u2014even making love%u2014in them. By the 1860s, there were 70,000 people a week visiting Paris%u2019 major garden cemeteries. In the United States, by the mid-1850s, garden cemeteries began to be established across the continent. At first, they were popular recreational destinations%u2014just like those in Europe%u2014but, by the turn of the 20th Century, Americans began finding other places to draw their attention. Still, today, you can occasionally spot a few people on a sunny afternoon meandering among the tombstones of an American garden cemetery, or playing catch with their dog, or pushing a baby carriage, or jogging, or simply driving down the quiet, winding, asphalted drives.Personally, I rather enjoy visiting cemeteries%u2014but not the ones filled with simple, flat, ground-level stones, nor the ones with the subdivision-like regularity of standard granite monuments. I prefer cemeteries that contain older, distinctive, elaborate grave markers and statuary. I don%u2019t find them particularly sad places. Instead, I sense in them the deep love the still-living have for those who%u2019ve passed on. So, when I see a magnificent winged angel, handcarved in white marble, I consider how much a father, mother, or child cared for their lost loved one. After all, you don%u2019t erect a beautiful statue for a lecherous uncle, a mean-spirited parent, or an adulterous husband. You only commission an expensive sculpture for someone who was very special to you%u2014an innocent daughter, a caring relative, a soul mate. And these relationships have a timeless quality%u2014an abiding love that transcends death.As I walk through these cemeteries, stopping, looking, and touching the weathered monuments,