The cemetery is less than 1/2 mile from my house. In the middle of a sea of housing neighborhoods and catty corner from a high school. They were there first. This area used to be way outside of town and we slowly have encroached upon these lands and now find ourselves with somewhat, odd neighbors.
I drive by here almost everyday and most days, I am made aware that our days are not ours to expect. Just the other day, there was a funeral and they were getting ready to let go of at least 50 balloons. I wanted to grab my camera but thought better of it. I wanted to watch but had a slew of traffic behind me with no place to pull over but I kept that image in my mind for a few minutes.
Sometimes it just hits me, out of nowhere. This happens alot. I don't know if I am unique but suddenly it just dawns of me, I will not be here forever. Someday, this life will end and there is a shadow of sadness that passes over me. Make no mistake, it will also happen to you. Whether you have less than a day or fifty more years, it will end. We will move on, Death is as real as life. Most of us have experienced the death of someone close to us, someday it will be about us. What a humbling thought.
But before That Day, we will experience the death of many other things in our lives. Not just people although for some, that will be the case. There will be the death of dreams and relationships. There will come a time that we will have to mourn the loss of what is no longer possible and the death of what we thought would always be. My perception is that experiencing these losses won't help a whole lot against the diagnosis of cancer but it does give us a taste of what is Real.
This day, I knew I was to stop at the cemetery. Not just drive by, get out and take a few pictures. I know no one buried here. My only degree of connection is, it is my neighbor. Like Neighbor Mike, we have crossed paths for a reason. The same mentality applies to the Firehouse right down the street from the cemetery where often, I hear the sirens headed out to the next cal. I always stop and pray for wherever they are going. That God will show up and spread His Love. It is just the neighborly thing to do, no matter who your neighbors are...
