Smoothies at the Cemetery
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:12AM 
A week ago last Sunday, my family and I took a trip to Lake View Cemetery to visit my grandparents and a bunch of other family members. It's a glorious place chock-full of history and natural beauty. If you ever find yourself in Cleveland, Ohio, I would definitely recommend putting Lake View on your "things to do" list.
I used to love going there, as a child, with my grandma. She was big on storytelling, so while we visited the grave sites of the many friends and family members, she would give me the scoop on the life of each person...kind of fun for an overly curious kid like me. The cemetery never did scare me or creep me out. Mostly, it made me feel rooted, and helped me to realize that I was part of something bigger.
As we drove down the winding roads and tree-filled grounds; either on our way in or out, my grandma would point out the resting places of other interesting and famous people, like Rockefeller, President Garfield, and Elliot Ness.
We took a wrong turn, and got a little lost on our recent trip there (which isn't hard to do), but I started to recognize certain landmarks, and finally I yelled, "This is it!", and jumped out of the car to go and find my grandparents.
I ran up the hill, and when I spotted them, I said, "Hi, Grandma and Grandpa!" I jumped up on to their headstone (I do a lot of jumping), threw my hands in the air, and yelled, "I found them!" I didn't know it at the time, but later, Macy said that that (my little scene) was her favorite part of the day. I think because right then, in watching my silly jubilance, I made it all okay for her.
My kids had never been to Lake View before. As I was unbuckling them and getting them out of the car; excited for them to meet my grandparents, I realized that we were there with my parents...their grandparents.
Everyone has their own, very special, way of dealing with this sort of topic, but I thought it was important in that moment to give my kiddos my take on the subject of mortality.
I said, "These are my grandparents, like Bubba and Pappy are your grandparents, and I was really close with my Grandma and Grandpa, like you are with Bubba and Pappy. I loved them very much, and even though I was really sad when they were gone, and I missed them very much...I'm happy, and I feel really lucky to have had them in my life, so when I come here to visit them, I feel happy."
I would much rather honor the life of the people who I've known, who have passed away, by remembering the good stuff and the joy that they brought, rather than mourn their loss. (Unfortunately, I don't have as positive an attitude for those who have left my life by choice...but that's a story for another day.)
My sister-in-law had brought along a pitcher of strawberry smoothies. So, we walked around sipping cold strawberry goodness, while we enjoyed the beauty, and enjoyed each other. I'm not sure that my grandma would have thought the smoothies were appropriate or proper, but she would have been really glad that we were there, and that we brought her flowers, and most importantly that we paid a visit to the other members of the family. My grandpa would have just gotten a big kick out of the whole thing. :)
All in all, it was a pretty wonderful day spent with the people who mean/and meant the most to me. It was fun to wander around and show my kids the things that I remembered seeing as a kid, and we discovered some new things as well.
This is the grave site of Raymond "Chappie" Chapman, the only modern major league baseball player to have died as a direct result of being hit by a pitch during a game. (If you click the link...I think he looks a little bit like Kevin Costner, don't you?)
I love how people have brought memorabilia to show their respect, and no one vandalizes it.
Anyway, I'm going to have to go back again sometime soon, just me and my trusty camera, and spend a day (or a year). There is just so much beauty there.
I think, whether I had family to visit there or not, just standing back and taking it all in...the beauty, the humanity, the history...makes me feel rooted, and part of something much, much bigger. It makes me smile (and smiling's my favorite.)
Reader Comments (4)
One of my best Mother's Days yet!
Dear Kelly-I have always been spooked by cemeteries (we cremate) but...after reading your post and seeing your pics..I would like to come walk with you there. I think it's important, too, to honor those we love who are not with us anymore...and to teach our children all about mortality and things like that. You are such a great mom:) Seriously! OMG-dude TOTALLY looks like Kevin Costner! Weird! Also-I love all the architecture and trees and wide open spaces of this cemetery-it looks like an open air cathedral.
We are still sick with the flu bug...yucky but hopefully on the tail end of it now! xxx
kelly dear...this was PURELY WONDERFUL!!! i am a fanatic for cemeteries! LOVE LOVE LOVE them. they hold such HISTORY. i am going to share the grave of chappie with my boys...especially my 9 year old who just broke his nose is 5 places as a result of catching a pop fly with his face! it could have been worse right? thank you for sharing. i LOVE that you ate smoothies at the cemetery. we eat ice cream at my mom's grave...and popcicles too! xo!
did you know a lot of cemeteries in California only allow flat grave markers? this cemetery reminds me of several i've visited in Cinn, OH (where my husband was born & raised)... we've spent a lot of time looking at the ornate, intricate headstones! love your pictures - the last picture is gorgeous! WOW!