Personal Essays
Remembrance and Memorials
A Grandiose Remembrance
I am often amused by the burial places of the wealthy. Does the size and cost of the mausoleum insure against being forgotten? Is the stately classical design a guarantee that future generations, unknown to the residents lying within, will be suitably impressed? I know not who resides here for all eternity. I know not their accomplishments nor their standing in the community. Were they kind and generous? Were they surrounded by loving friends and families at their death? Did they leave the world a better place after they were gone? I will never know the answers to these questions. I will only know that they or their heirs thought that I would be awed by this grand structure and think that great people lay at rest here.
I am often amused by the burial places of the wealthy. Does the size and cost of the mausoleum insure against being forgotten? Is the stately classical design a guarantee that future generations, unknown to the residents lying within, will be suitably impressed? I know not who resides here for all eternity. I know not their accomplishments nor their standing in the community. Were they kind and generous? Were they surrounded by loving friends and families at their death? Did they leave the world a better place after they were gone? I will never know the answers to these questions. I will only know that they or their heirs thought that I would be awed by this grand structure and think that great people lay at rest here.