Remembering

I well remember that early morning when Bruce Clark died in an airplane crash. He was west of our place crop dusting for some of the local farmers. He was the only son of Bob and Sharon. His headstone is my favorite headstone at the Sutherland Cemetery. His mother, aunt, and young cousin Julie are all buried in the same cemetery. The same cemetery I will call home some day.

Scott has many ancestors laid to rest in each and every cemetery in our area. His maternal great grandfather and grandmother came to Deseret from Denmark. One has to admire those early Saints. He left wealth and a beautiful homeland to be with the body of Saints in Utah. He was sent to Deseret at a time when it was sage brush and dirt! His son Nels went on to raise a family of 10. Scott has lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins on his mothers side! Both in and out of the cemeteries!

I love to visit cemeteries. They have such stories to tell. Sometimes those stories are rather sad and causes us, the living, to ponder and contemplate. In the late 1990's Scott and I took a family vacation with my parents to Vernal, Utah. Vernal / Maeser was where my father was born and raised. It was only fitting that we visit the cemetery where his parents and some siblings were laid to rest. It is a beautiful little cemetery and I immediately felt at home in this place. After all my favorite paternal aunt is buried here, along with her son, brothers, parents, etc. Before I visited the Maeser Cemetery I was fully aware that substance abuse haunted this family line. I do believe it came from the Fisher line, but perhaps it came from both. Wherever it came from it did come in full force. What struck me as we visited this cemetery was....all the single headstones!!! Divorce and alcoholism seemed to go hand in hand! Passed on from parent to child to grandchild, etc. Seeing it in granite left quite the impression on me. If only we could keep a focus on the end result perhaps we would make different daily choices. I do look forward to a reuniting, especially with my beloved Aunt Cora. God bless you all, living and deceased!