Personal Essays
Remembrance and Memorials
A Solitary Remembrance
For someone born in 1858 living nearly 98 eight years was a very long life indeed. This solitary stone in this small, out of the way cemetery, forgotten by many and unknown by most is a simple remembrance yet just as stately as the largest mausoleum.
Charles C. Ritter's life ended just 4 years after mine began. What will be my memorial? I'm fairly certain it won't be a mighty public edifice nor a stately classical mausoleum. Without children I leave no one behind to carry my DNA into the future or tend a simple grave like this. If my plans to be cremated are carried out there will be no physical place to mark my existence. Though I have written words and created images, I doubt either are remarkable enough to stand the test of time. So, what will be left behind in my remembrance when I shuffle off this mortal coil? I hope that those whose lives I have touched will occasionally remember me with fondness. That will be enough.
For someone born in 1858 living nearly 98 eight years was a very long life indeed. This solitary stone in this small, out of the way cemetery, forgotten by many and unknown by most is a simple remembrance yet just as stately as the largest mausoleum.
Charles C. Ritter's life ended just 4 years after mine began. What will be my memorial? I'm fairly certain it won't be a mighty public edifice nor a stately classical mausoleum. Without children I leave no one behind to carry my DNA into the future or tend a simple grave like this. If my plans to be cremated are carried out there will be no physical place to mark my existence. Though I have written words and created images, I doubt either are remarkable enough to stand the test of time. So, what will be left behind in my remembrance when I shuffle off this mortal coil? I hope that those whose lives I have touched will occasionally remember me with fondness. That will be enough.