Each summer I return to my old hometown; the place that I was born.  While back “home”, I spend some time at the large cemetery to honor the memory of my two parents, two grandparents, three aunts, one uncle, and my brother-in-law.

Before reading any further, please be assured that cemetery visits are not my favorite pastime. Neither do I feel those visits to be a burden. It simply feels right to return once a year to collect my thoughts concerning those who were so important in my life. I acknowledge and understand those who, after the funeral, never return to the graveside. To visit or not to visit is a highly personal decision.

My recent 2018 visit showed a cemetery whose grounds are in deplorable condition with dead trees, untrimmed shrubs, overflowing trash containers, weeds growing over leaning headstones, acres of grass needing mowed, and deep potholes in roadways.  I have been noticing that these conditions grow worse each year. However, this year the conditions hit an all time low.

This massive cemetery markets itself as a perpetual care cemetery. How can that be true when only one groundskeeper was present?  During the two hours of my visit (while I did what I could to pull weeds around each family headstone) he sat on his mower under a shade tree talking on his cell phone.

Thousands of loved ones are buried there with hundreds more coming in the years ahead.  All lost loved ones and the families that paid to have them buried there deserve respect. The ownership of this cemetery has failed to show that respect. Shameful!