Exploring Rose Hill

Yesterday, we enjoyed a day walking among the graves at historic Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.  Rose Hill is old, established in 1840 and it's huge, 65 acres, nestled on the north side of Macon, right next to the Ocmulgee River.  Our photography group saw but a bit of it.  We will be back!

I took over a hundred pictures.  If you'd like to see them all, they're in my Facebook album.

Here's a group shot we took just before we went in.

Ami brought me my old Shaun Cassidy doll and I was so happy to have him!  She found him tucked away somewhere with her childhood things.  I thought for sure he was long lost to that faraway place that toys go.  I was so happy to have him that I asked him to go with us on the photo walk.  He was delighted! 

This grave tugged at my heart.  A baby girl born on my birthday and named Virginia.  There are way too many babies out there.  :(

 Those November colors made a beautiful background for all of our photos!

"Just a brown dog"

Sad story.  Lieutenant Bobby was a little brown terrier who belonged to Captain D. C. Harris and was his constant companion.  He was the official mascot of the 121st Blue Bonnet Infantry of the Georgia National Guard.  President Calvin Coolidge gave Bobby an official commission as lieutenant for his faithful attendance in training classes at Fort Benning.  He wore a tiny sword on his leather harness and he led many parades with Captain Harris.  The captain was visiting friends in a downtown hotel and Lt. Bobby fell down the elevator shaft and was killed.  He was buried there at Rose Hill with full military honors and when Captain Harris died, he was buried right next to him.

Here's a picture of Bobby in life.  Sweet boy.

An old weathered Bible left on a grave

Such beautiful detail out there.  They sure don't make graves like they used to.

For some reason, I was extremely emotional yesterday.  Not sure if it was the location and the stark realization that every grave represents a life that was lived, a real live person who walked on this earth and loved and laughed and cried and danced and felt the rain on his or her face or if it was the ever awareness that in just forty short days, my husband will be home with me, finally.  And we'll have a life to live and love and laugh and cry.  Or maybe it was a little bit of both.  This graffiti, however inappropriate in a cemetery, spoke to me and it made me cry.   Life IS temporary.  It is fleeting.  It is here today and gone tomorrow.  But love.  Love is forever.  It was in the leaves flying around in the breeze yesterday, it was in the sun shining down on us as we visited those long gone.

It was in this precious girl who died one month short of her 13th birthday of peritonitis, now an easily cured inflammation in the inner wall of the abdomen.  A two-week round of antibiotics probably would have done the trick for Little Martha Ellis but in 1896, such treatment was in its early, early stages.  Her monument and grave show the love that her parents, brothers and sisters had for her.  They adored her.  Her grave reads, "She was love personified and her memory is a sweet solace by day and pleasant dreams by night to Mamma, Papa, brothers and sisters.  We will meet again in the sweet bye and bye."  Ami and Brian had met Little Martha before and had fallen in love with her immediately.  They have gone to visit her in every season of the year.  Some people say she was the inspiration for The Allman Brothers' song, "Little Martha" from their Eat A Peach album, as they used to hang out a lot at Rose Hill.  They were drawn to her, too.  Today, she's a part of Southern rock folklore and is visited and loved by Allman Brothers' fans far and wide.  She has not been forgotten.  Her love goes on.  I know Mamma and Papa are so proud of their girl.

 Love was even in the trees yesterday.  This one especially.  :)

We had lunch at The Rookery downtown.  It was busy, loud and delicious.  I got the Allman Burger, local grown beef, swiss cheese and 'shrooms, of course!  It was very, very good. 

After lunch, we went back to Rose Hill for Round Two.  We had to go say hey to Duane and Berry.

And catch some of that gorgeous late afternoon sun!

  

After we walked this bridge on the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, we were ready to head for home.

  

Another wonderful day!  Today, I'm pretty much paying for all that walking in bad shoes.  I have GOT to get some good walking shoes!  My heels are even swollen today.  What??  So Tabbie Hoffman and I are taking it easy today, doing some very light housework and washing up some flannel shirts I've gathered for Larry.  It looks really good to have man stuff hanging in the closet!