Comfortable With Death

Comfortable With Death

I was walking Xavier to preschool when he said “When you pick me up and August and Dela and Ciaran we should go to the park with the stones you can read to me.”

It took me a minute, but eventually I asked him “Like when we were in Salem?”

“Yeah!”

“That was a graveyard.”

salem graveyard 01a

 

This reminded me of the time last summer while on vacation in Salem, Massachusetts, when visiting a graveyard Xavier started running around and hiding behind some of the larger headstones, popping up like a ghost from time to time. The other kids were all a bit creeped out by the environs, partially because the graveyard was so closely tied to the witch trials.

In turn I was reminded that I didn’t’ post much at all from our vacation over the summer. While I didn’t mind it much at the time as I was able to focus more on the vacation, looking back I wish I had posted at least a skeleton outline of what we did and where we went to help jog our memories, particularly in the years to come. I didn’t even post half the pictures I took (just a few to Facebook). Memories are good, and even better when you can actively remember them.

I suppose I’ll be trying to rectify that over the coming weeks.

salem graveyard 02The story behind the picture and Xavier’s remarks comes from visiting a graveyard in Salem that was the first plot of land set aside for the burial of bodies. It is also where a number of notable figures in the history of the Salem witch trials are buried. Among other Salem notables.

I have always like visiting historical graveyards. These old headstones are fascinating and every time I have the opportunity to spend a little time in one I will. This time we sort of stumbled upon the graveyard and were looking about when we noticed Xavier was missing. Suddenly he head popped up from behind a gravestone. He wasn’t playing hide-and-seek so much as just playing around among the big slabs of stone. Eventually he wanted to know what they said and while the others were looking around on their own Xavier and I would go together and he would point out which headstones he wanted me to read to him.

salem graveyard 03