I Walked Among Angels Today

As a favor to a fellow genealogist, I offered to take a picture of the front of his ancestors’ crypt to show that it had been repaired as he had requested.   At first I was a little nervous going into a cemetery that I have never been to before.  Let’s face it, none of us like going there for any reason.

I drove around the grounds trying to find the right building and it came to me that I have never been in a mausoleum before in my life.  All of my relatives are buried underground and are not in this cemetery.  When I walk into that building, I am going to be surrounded by sadness and death.  Having just lost my husband a mere 3-1/2 years ago, I wasn’t sure I could do it.

As I continued to drive, I came upon a funeral in progress.  I took a few seconds to bow my head and close my eyes in respect.  I watched as they removed the casket from the hearse and watched the mourners walk behind their loved ones’ casket to where it was to be laid to rest.  I knew that I was going to sit there patiently as long as it took and then I wondered if there would actually be a person in this world so uncaring as to blow a horn or actually be angry that they had to wait a few minutes until they could drive through the area?  Unfortunately, I suppose there are such people like that.

This cemetery also is the largest one I have ever been to and after driving around in circles for a while I decided to find someone to help guide me to the right building or else I would be there for hours.  The lady gave me a map and it turned out I was not very far away from the “Lords Prayer” mausoleum.  I gathered my notes and my camera and stood at the door for a few minutes to take a long deep breath before going in.  Once inside, I tried to detach myself from all feelings and just started looking for names so I could take the picture and get out of there.

I don’t know if I can explain the experience I went through today but I would like to try.

As I walked further into the mausoleum, reading through the names, loving quotes and seeing the flowers, charms, beads (which I assume were Rosary beads), toys, wreaths, etc. that were placed on the front of the crypts or at the floor in front, I did not have a feeling of sadness, grief or fear.  Somehow I felt as if I were being watched over by all of the people who have gone on before.  I was in their house now and they were making me feel at ease in what normally would be an uneasy situation.  By now you are probably thinking I have gone off the deep end which I haven’t.

Each name that I came across and sometimes a picture, I began to wonder about these people and the lives that they led. I’m sure for the most part their lives were not very much different from mine or yours in terms of everyday life; they loved, they laughed, they cried, they also mourned the ones who went before them.  The longer I looked for the crypt of my fellow genealogists’ ancestor, the deeper I became involved in wondering about every soul at rest there.  I still talk to my husband sometimes and I feel as if he is still with me and always will be, I believe he was with me today.

After about an hour or so of searching I found myself asking, “Please, Mr. and Mrs. Green, give me a sign to let me know where you are.  I couldn’t just give up now.  I must have read through more than 100 names and with each name I envisioned what that person was like, what caused them to be here. Was it an accident; was it natural or at the hand of someone else, did one of the wars claim this life?  I saw many crypts that the fronts were blank; many had 2 names above or below the surname but only 1 name had both a date of birth and date of death; the other name just had the date of birth.  Was the one left behind still in pain like I am from losing their husbands or wives or had they made peace with it and were just waiting to be reunited with them again?

After realizing I had been walking through the halls of these sacred buildings, in and out, for over an hour, I thought to myself I will have to come back. I am just too tired and exhausted to look any longer.  I felt as if I had lived a thousand lives in that short amount of time.  As I walked down one more hallway to go back to the car, it was as if I was being summoned to look to the right; there was a short walkway just outside of the building that I had not noticed before.  It reminded me somewhat of a garden and as I turned the corner and looked up, there they were; Mr. and Mrs. Green.  I took 2 or 3 pictures of the front of the crypt for my friend, read a few more names and imagined a few more lives and then walked to the car.

Sitting in the car, I just rested for a while before leaving.  There was so much emotion involved by the experience that I had when “I Walked Among Angels Today.”  I wasn’t sad; I wasn’t scared; I didn’t cry; it was almost peaceful; as if I had been given a unique gift to be able to spend time with so many people that I never had the privilege of meeting before they became Angels.

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Photo provided by: moonstarsandpaper.blogspot.com

December is always the time of year that we think of family and creating family memories of Christmas and traditions.  We are either carrying on with old traditions or beginning new ones that future generations can carry on with their families.

It is a time to think about taking all of the pictures and writing down all that you can to capture those moments of joy when you see family you haven’t seen in a while or when you hear the giggle of the kids opening their gifts or even the dog running through the wrapping paper all over the floor.  Treasure each and every one of these moments, get them on film and takes notes so you will know exactly who the photo is about, what day it is, what they were doing, what was the occasion, who was there, what you had for dinner.  So much information slips by us and we think “I will remember this or that” and then as time goes on in our busy lives, some of the things that we thought we would never forget has slipped from our minds.

I know I am a little late in getting started on the 12 days of Christmas project, so hopefully you won’t mind doing a couple of extra days to catch up.

You remember the song, The 12 days of Christmas?  On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me, a partridge in pear tree.  Traditionally, The 12 Days of Christmas starts on Christmas Day and finishes on January 5^th.  This goes back to English times in the 16^th century.

To be a little bit different, I would like to start the 12 days of Christmas on December 14 and each day on a scrapbook page or in a journal, start writing down what you are doing, what are you thinking about, who are you buying gifts for or are you not able to buy many gifts this year, are you making gifts, what are your feelings about this Christmas in 2011?  Record these next days leading up to and on Christmas Day.

Just put in your name and email address and I will even send you a reminder each day for the next 10 days via email to get you started.

Start off the new year of 2012 as a completely new beginning and continue it all throughout the whole year. You will be much happier in your own life.

Don’t let this Christmas season go by with unkind words or unkind deeds still in the way.

Enter your name in the box below to receive the “12 Days of Christmas” email reminders or enter your name and email at the top right corner and start receiving the notices of your journey into scrapbooking your family tree and creating new Memories of Christmas for your children and their children to look back on and be proud of where they came from.

Many, many people do not have anyone to share their lives with and if you are able, please take a minute to share a smile or a hug with someone who needs it.  Donate some of your time; buy a little extra at the grocery store for a family who may not have anything this Christmas.  You will be amazed at the awesome feeling you have if you do just one simple little thing to make someone else feel special.

Christmas is the best time of the year to start anew.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a glorious and safe Happy New Year.