(Submitted to NorthIowaToday.com by Peter Children)
I often visit the graveyard, I go to see my friends. I walk the rows and stop to read the familiar names, I asked questions and I visit extensively with those who had touched my life.
“Do you hear the wind, do you hear it as it caresses the leaves and sways the trees; do you feel the heat of the sun as it warms the earth, and do you feel the rain as it beats upon the ground. Do you hear the thunder as it rolls across the sky?” Those were just a few of the questions I asked as I lingered under the trees and spoke aloud to the dead. It is refreshing to visit your friends, to bring forth their faces once more, to listen to their laughter, to see their smiles and share in their triumphs once again…even if it is only within the caverns of your mind. “Do you remember that I carried you here; do you know that I miss you and pray for you each night?”
There is an entire city under those trees, a community that once was full of life and energy, a people who help build this community and fought for this country, people who gave what they could to us that are still here….
Peter J. Children|
