At some point in our life, a cemetery visit is in the cards for us. Whether we attend a funeral for a loved one, a friend, or even a colleague, visiting a cemetery is inevitable for us all. The longer we live, the more we will visit those grassy areas lined with countless headstones.
While we are used to generations passing along stories of late loved ones, we must remember that stories get passed on in different forms as well. I know this all too well when I visit my mother’s gravestone at the cemetery she’s buried in.
My late mother was buried in 1993 at her cemetery. In fact, this past week would have been her 72nd birthday. She sadly missed her 40s, 50s, 60s, and now 70s. It’s heartbreaking to say that the last time I gave my mother a hug or heard her sweet voice was over 33 years ago.
When I have visited her grave in the past, I would always leave flowers for her, and then I’d stay a while and just silently talk to her. Each four-grave plot area always had a tree in the middle of each section where four loved ones are buried. Her cemetery is in California while I live in another state. I would listen to the wind swaying the tree right by her gravestone and in many ways, I felt the most connected to her in those moments. Sometimes I would even bring a notebook and I’d write her a letter, talking to her as if she was still here. Because I’m her daughter, I know the story about her life very well. For others who didn’t know her, pieces of her life were on her gravestone where they could learn more about her. Not just her name, but a quote, and even ducks that were engraved, as she loved ducks.
I would look up and see other people visiting their loved one’s graves, but then I noticed some gravestones sadly looked like no one had visited them in many years. I would get sad seeing that. I would look at the other gravestones and I would read their names, look at the dates they were born, and the dates they passed away, and I started slowly learning about their lives while looking at their gravestones. You could tell which gravestones of the person who passed away had a family, or those who were part of the armed forces, or learn that they were very young when they passed, or other clues with quotes engraved. It reminded me that people aren’t the only ones who leave stories behind or pass down stories to future generations.
A gravestone can pass down stories to future generations, a simple recipe, a song about a pivotal moment in time, an idea that was first planted as a seed and turned into a legacy later, a classic story that was written 100 years ago, a tree that was planted, a home that was built, a photograph that was taken, or even a company that created a platform to preserve all that’s precious to families.
Reflekta is bridging the gap to help families preserve memories of their loved ones. We take whatever families have and make something beautiful and long lasting for all future generations to enjoy and share out of it. Each item, each memory, each voice recording, has a beautiful story to tell and share. Here at Reflekta, we make sure the love you have for your loved ones will continue well after they are gone. Here at Reflekta, we make it our priority to make sure your loved one will never be forgotten.