Dear
Ancestor
This is a poem I found on Pinterest. It describes my feelings some about my ancestry/geneology work.
Some people think it is silly to wonder about people from our past family, and isn't worth our time or money.
That is okay, nobody will force you to research ancestors if you don't want to. I was like that for many years, just didn't care.
But, I got interested in it little by little, slowly over the years. I would find out somebody was related to somebody else, and how they were related, (not neccessarily family members either) and it just got interesting to me.
I say for right now, I am only interested in a few generations back, to see how all our family is related to each other, but like before, that might change too and I might find myself trying to go back to Noah....hahaha...
Anyway, I like this poem, it also describes the way I have felt while mowing and taking care of the Bradleyville Cemetery, and visiting other cemeteries.
Every person buried there has their own story, and it is just fascinating to me and I like to imagine what life must have been like for them. Picture of Bradleyville Cemetery and while these graves are not neglected, they are not thought of very often either.
Your
tombstone stands among the rest;
Neglected
and alone.
The
name and date are chiseled out
On
polished, marbled stone.
It
reaches out to all who care
It
is too late to mourn.
You
did not know that I exist
You
died and I was born.
Yet
each of us are cells of you
In
flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our
blood contracts and beats a pulse
Entirely
not our own.
Dear
Ancestor, the place you filled
One
hundred years ago
Spreads
out among the ones you left
Who
would have loved you so.
I
wonder if you lived and loved,
I
wonder if you knew
That
someday I would find this spot,
And
come to visit you.