Re: The Gifts of Thanksgiving

11/18/07 - posted by Val

Frank and jb, kindred souls you are! I am also a cemetery visitor. First through my passion on genealogy research and second through the compassion and love I feel for the contributions made by all those who have gone before me, ancestors or not.

Most of my ancestors are at Holy Cross, mostly German and French ancestry who settled in the City sometime before 1875. The most loving gravestone I have ever seen is the one which my great-grandparents share at HC (Jacobina and August Berberich). It is so sweet, in the shape of a cross, slightly tilted on purpose. I knelt down before it and gave them my thoughts about how amazing they were to sacrifice so much to come to America at that time, and the wonderful job they did of choosing such a fine City in which to settle and to call home. I thanked them and told them they "did good" and their five children flourished and had many off-spring. It brought tears to me eyes and so much gratitude for their lives. Yes, our ancestors will always live through each of us, not only with genetic memory but with spirit! I embrace each one of them, those who were good for the love they gave and those who were bad for the pain they endured. And best of all, they gave me life!