Aunt Margaret

So my great aunt died. For once there is nothing to be sad about with death. We will miss her, but we are not sad that she is gone. She was no longer happy here, and longed to be somewhere other than here. For some time now, she had been wanting to go home, to see her husband and her mother. She was 103 years 6 months and 18 days old. She was outliving the next generation.

It wasn't until we were at the graveside that I realized that this woman, who lived all those years is buried maybe 200 yards from where she was born. Exactly where she was born, in the old Yates homeplace that was built by her Grandfather, and more than likely where her father was born, and certainly where she was born, with her 2 sisters, Minnie Kate and Myrtie Mae, and her brother William Raymond, who was my grandfather. It was where my mom, aunts and uncles were all born too--where our family raised cotton among other things.

One thing most people don't know about me--I love to read obituaries. So many people have led such interesting lives. They die so quietly, but at some point have done amazing things or been so important to others. They are people that someone loved.

Back to Aunt Margaret. So she is gone, but her body is in a place that she loved. Our family church cemetary, Pleasant Grove Church built in 1913, on land that borders the Yates farm, and holds many of our ancestors, including her parents, grandparents and great grandparents also in the cemetary. In the middle picture, her grave site is just behind me, and our family farm begins on the other side of the pond. Really, when you think about the whole deal--that's a pretty fantastic ending.