An Annotated Personal History of Death and Cemeteries

Before I write anything about the walking tour of Riverside Cemetery, I thought I would offer some interesting, not-wholly-unimportant context about myself and cemeteries:

 

Unknown Date: Visited cemetery for the first time.  Experience not memorable.  At all.  

Sometime(s) During Childhood-Early Adolescence:  Frequent summer play dates at Lion’s Park in Fort Frances, ON.  Park situated right next to a cemetery.  

December 1998: Paternal Grandmother passes away.  Casket is open until the service starts.  Mom assures us that we can touch Gran, but she will be cold.  Poke Gran on the wrist when I see her: she is cold.  Arrive at the cemetery for the burial.  Gran does not have a headstone.  Disillusionment ensues.  In the movies, there’s always a headstone.  Begin to realize that Hollywood might be lying to me.  Am v. sad.  

Early 1999:  Great-Uncle dies.  Did not attend the funeral.  Heard it was beautiful.  

2002: Hide and Seek in the cemetery with at-the-time best friend, Dana.  Rules – 1 person hides amongst the headstones; 1 person rides a bike on the road and seeks.  First time I set foot on top of a grave.  Have always been afraid to do so until then.  Still feel uneasy whenever I pass over a corpse. 

2002: Dana proposes a sleepover in a cemetery.  Never happens. 

2003: Receive driver’s license.  Frequent drives in cemeteries with friends.  Listen to too much Avril Lavigne during this time.  Also introduced to Japanese Rap by long-time friend Amanda.  Never allow Amanda to pick the driving music again. 

Spring 2005:  Explore the forest around the cemetery with friends.  Find a small grave marked ‘Tiffany Rose’.  General consensus – baby grave.  Develop extensive fiction explaining why the grave is separated and largely unmarked.  Feel like Nancy Drew.

Summer 2005: Taken to founder of Orangeville’s grave by Dad.  Am decidedly less enthused than he is about the experience.  

Summer 2007: Drive around graveyard in the West End of Fort Frances with sister.  Find a family of deer living nearby.  Listen to better music.  

2008: Show baby grave to Dad.  Find it surrounded by other small graves.  Am informed by Dad that it’s a pet cemetery, not a baby cemetery.  Am disillusioned yet again.  Decide to no longer show my Dad things.  

Summer 2010: Drive around cemeteries frequently with Dad.  See headstones of VC winners, including Billy Bishop, and a lot of Mason graves.  Am decidedly less enthused than Dad is about the Mason graves.