No Flowers For Fred

We were out on Sunday, walking around with cameras in hand and came across an almost abandoned cemetery.  It appeared that it was semi maintained by a nearby church.  The grass, although mowed, looked like that was the only thing it had going for it.  It was patchy and burnt mostly, with a island of green every once in a while.  The stone in today's image is that of Frederick and Mary Callendar.  It was a little strange.  Mary's "dash" dates were 1865 and 1948.  Fred's were 1873 and a blank.  Now, either Fred is still alive and kicking at the ripe old age of 138, or there must be some sort of story about the blank.  Three quarters into the 19th century families were typically still fairly large.  The first thought that came to mind about Fred was that he may have been the youngest or near youngest child in the family.  He certainly outlived Mary.  He was most likely the one responsible for seeing to the headstone and proper dates of Mary's birth and death.  But what about Fred.  He was 75 when he buried Mary, a reasonable long life for the times.  Perhaps they never had children or might have lost sons in the war.  At 75, Fred might have been the last surviving of his brothers and sisters and had fallen out of contact with any nieces or nephews.  So Fred died with no one to have his rest date put on the stone and no one to put flowers by the grave.  Think of Fred and read the poem "The Dash" by Linda Ellis.

Today image is pretty straight, with no tricks or gimmicks.  It stands on its own, so today the only "read more" is to follow this link and read the poem.