Written in Stone

Today I spent some time at the cemetery. I go there periodically to think, pray, meditate and--ironically--to contemplate life. It's a peaceful place where I can escape for a little while and be alone with my thoughts. As I walked through the rows of headstones I noticed that many of them contained moving words and poems. The following phrases especially caught my attention:

On the grave of a six year old girl: "budded on earth, to bloom in heaven"
On the grave of a two year old girl: "our sweetheart"
On the grave of a nine year old girl: "our Rosa that lived a little hour, we prize beyond the earthly flower"
On the grave of a 25 year old woman: "if tears could build a stairway and memories build a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven, and bring you home again"

Some tombstones contained information about jobs, hobbies, military service and other life accomplishments. On one couple's headstone were written the immortal words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning: " ... and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death." (I have read those words before, but seeing them written on a tombstone increased their impact.) Many grave markers also contained short phrases such as:

Beloved son
Cherished father
Respected brother
Loyal friend
Eternal sweethearts
Forever loved
Never forgotten

Such words of love and regret are memorials to the dead written by the living. I hope to be similarly honored after I'm gone, but for the words on my tombstone to be sincere and meaningful they must be the heartfelt expressions of the loved ones I've left behind. To leave a legacy of uplifting words written in stone, I must spend a lifetime expressing love to the people who matter most to me.