My New Bumper Sticker

Do you like my new bumper sticker?  Do you have any cemetery/genealogy bumper stickers on your vehicle?  If so, please share.

Cemetery-itis

Cemetery-itis is my made-up word for a condition that I developed after doing genealogy for quite a few years.

My definition goes something like this:  A genealogical condition that makes you slow down and crane your neck when driving past cemeteries; you will often stop at unknown cemeteries to take pictures of unknown gravestones because the are old, unique, and interesting.

I'm very lucky that my husband is aware of my condition/addiction and helps me out by stopping at cemeteries and walking around with me looking at headstones.  

Some of my cemetery interest comes from my parents taking us to cemeteries as children to visit the graves of our grandparents and great grandparents.  I would watch as my dad cleaned the stones and trimmed the grass around each one and then my mom would put the flowers on and pray (and sometimes cry).  It was part of my childhood.  Just something we did.  I'm thankful to my parents for taking us and teaching us pay our respects to our ancestors and care for their gravestones.

It's sad that today's children don't visit cemeteries and that they consider them "creepy" instead of the peaceful and wondrous places that they are.  What's sadder is the vandalizing that goes on in cemeteries by today's youth.

I have many more pictures of gravestones that I will start to share with you along with stories of the cemeteries I visit.

I hope this post and helped you by either giving a name for the condition you have {smile}, reminding you to visit your ancestors, or making you want to visit cemeteries and marvel and some of the craftsmanship of the old stones.

~Sue