Elkhorn revisited

Well, I finally returned to Elkhorn and stopped just before sunset in the little cemetary where Mom and Dad were laid to rest. I wasn't sure how I would feel as I hadn't been there since before Dad passed away. I have a sense of calm. The cemetary itself is so well kept and respected. Dad had taken his scooter downtown in Virden one day and picked out the headstone himself. He had spent much time thinking of what to write for Mom and came up with a etched picture of a rose and the statement "Always Kindly Remembered" That could be read two ways and is appropriate either way. For himself, he had chosen an etched picture of the Bible and before he passed away we told him we had chosen "Blessed are the peacemakers" which ended up shortened to "Peacemaker" and he had been pleased. Their little house in town still boasts a big garden, Mom would have liked that. The chaos of the rest of the yard just restated to me that Manley and Grace don't live here anymore. As we wandered around the cemetary I was reminded of old friends and familiar names and of life being brief with many paths that cross perhaps only once. In comparing headstones I could see that Dad had chosen well. They are memorialized in simplicity and dignity with the polished headstone but remembered so large in our hearts and memories that it takes all of us to do it. Thankyou God for the chance to go back and for your gift to me of such loving parents.