Mom and I went to the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City today. My dad was buried there thirty years ago after sudden death at forty seven, and his sister Rosalie was laid to rest in 1941 after a motorcycle accident at eighteen. We put flowers down for Dad and then decided to try and find Rosalie's grave. But after wandering around in Immaculate Conception based purely on memories of a visit in 1974 or so, we didn't have any luck. So we went to the office for help, and a patient woman actually found the records, even though they preceded computer documentation and we weren't sure about Rosalie's last name. But I knew exactly where to go once we had the info, and made a beeline for the grave of an aunt I never knew but whose memory brought tears to my father's eyes late in his life. He always said how beautiful she was. And how kind. How he would sit and watch as she sat at her vanity table and brushed her hair and talked to him. He was adamant that I never ride on a motorcycle, but he was dead by the time I hopped on Ian Boyd's green Suzuki at Grant High School in 1977. Fortunately Ian, my first love and lifelong friend, was either more careful or more lucky than Rosalie's guy. But I still felt as if I'd somehow betrayed my father. This entry is in memory of my dad and the sister he loved so much.
3 comments:
Such a lovely sentiment. Thank you for sharing the experience of your day, and the stories of you aunt and father.
its so interesting how you can never meet a family member but still have this inside love and respect for them even though you never met them. And I think its because you know that someone you love, loves them, makes you love them too. And also knowing that a part of what makes that person that person is also inside of yourself.
And this....anecdote...is so much like visiting Grandpa's grave in Sweden. I just went with Dad, not expecting, or thinking anything, and i left crying. Really hard. And i realize now that i miss him because hes part of me, he's a part of my life. He's a part of Dad's life. And the love you find in family is the strongest love because it never leaves. its always there for you.
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