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| SEEN NEAR HILTON HEAD, S.C. Recently I posted this picture on Instagram with the invitation to create a caption. Seemed to me like an excellent Rorschach test of one's imagination and projections. Alas, no accepted the opportunity.Now it's your turn. |
I took this photograph near Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, earlier this year. Each time I see it, I conjure all sorts of questions:
.Whose grave is this? The inscription is illegible .
.When did they live?
.What was their life like?
.When did the person die?
.Are there descendants still living?
.How long have the tree and marker been growing together?
.Surely someone must have noted the growth early on. What prompted the decision to let it grow?
.And, a subject that has interested me of late ---What was this person's legacy; what 'difference' did their having lived make?
No, this latter is not morbid. It is a common and (I would insist) necessary question that holds interest for many people, particularly those who have passed the 'three score and ten' mark. The eminent psychotherapist, Dr. Irvin Yalom, wrote that there are essentially but four meta-issues that enter into a person's therapy: Fear of death, freedom, loneliness and meaning and purpose in one's life.
Since reading Yalom, I have noticed how one or more of those topics are often intertwined within the immediate issue(s). A large percentage of my therapy clients are sixty years old and over. Two are well into their mid-80's. It does not take a 'trained ear' to hear
them address these matters.
Having reached my own four-score years, I intend to give more focused attention to such inquiries. Amazing what you can see when you see a tree growing into a tombstone.
Satchel
From my observation, the tombstone, probably mid-19th century, is much older than the tree. My theory is that when that man or woman was laid to rest, probably in a pine box, the box eventually became absorbed into the ground from which it first came. Could it be that the heart of the interred sprang forth into a magnificent oak tree, leaving behind its former home and giving all who would observe, a chance to see that beautiful things can grow from a life well lived?
ReplyDeleteEternally surrounded by life.
ReplyDeleteWith the advent of Findagrave, my wife and I rarely frequent graveyards compared to our early-years family history jaunts. We have seen some really interesting markers and markers in unusual settings.
ReplyDeleteSo many families in the 19th century lit in a certain location, experienced a death and then moved on with no one left to care for the family stones.
In addition, the "habit" of cleaning up graveyards is relatively recent. In Britain, it is generally a once-a-year affair and in some locations, the grass grows to waist-high levels during the summers.
How well the yard looked was often left to the caretaker and some did a great job, while others did almost nothing. This was particularly true for rural graveyards.
MANY gravestones feature the "Tree of Life." This one might properly be called, "Tree of Death."
Don't never look back. Satchel Paige
ReplyDeleteA tree runs through it...
ReplyDelete~RS