Good morning! I was reading a passage in a book called "Bold Women in Michigan History" by Virginia Law Burns. In a passage about the abolitionist, Elizabeth Chandler, I read this poem she penned....
"The Silver Glade"
Lay me not, when I die, in the place of the dead,
With the dwellings of man round my resting place spread
But amidst the still forest, unseen and alone,
When the waters go by with a murmuring tone;
Where the wild bird above me may move its dark wing,
And the flowers I have loved from my ashes may spring.
As I think about my mother, whose ashes rest in the columbarium at Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church alongside those of my father's, I think this might have been her wish as well. We did take a portion of her remains, about a month after she passed, and spread them on the beach of Good Harbor Bay and out into Lake Michigan.
I think also of my friend, Kimber, who passed away just a year ago only 2 weeks shy of her 48th birthday. I visit her grave occasionally and I am always struck by the beauty of the cemetery ...and the complete waste of space! I think I may be more closely aligned with Miss Chandler's view. No offense to those who favor traditional burial but it is not for me.
Just what I was thinking today. Carry on.
