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From:
Subject: Re: [MDALLEGA] WE ARE CHOSEN
Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2003 23:28:26 EDT


Connie...

I don't know the Oliver Beltz Rd. Which part of the county is that in, and
what direction? Now you've got me wondering which Fletcher farm this is!

I think the life lesson that "We Are Chosen" emphasizes (or at least the one
that comes to my mind the quickest) is that NO life is not worth remembering.
That marker in the corner, alone and unadorned, is literally a touchstone for
that person's life, a reminder that they passed through this world, and
SOMEONE didn't want us to forget that. One walk through a cemetery with an older
person, or anyone who either knew "those folks" or heard stories about them,
can really bring this home. A name becomes a relation, and a reminiscence
becomes a real picture in the mind's eye. Cemeteries aren't morbid (an old
genealogist put-down); they truly are memory gardens.

It makes me so happy to hear how often the gang up in Allegany gets out to
re-walk and record cemeteries, do clean-ups, or even just lay flowers. One
project I've had in the back of my mind for awhile, is to come up with
rock-mounted plaque to set up near the gate to Fletcher Cemetery up in Monroe Twp.,
Bedford Co., with a few lines about the beginnings of the farm there, and the
allied families interred. Have any other listers had any experience with that kind
of undertaking? So often when I come upon an old family cemetery, I want to
know who those people were, when did they get here, etc.

Thanks again for posting that, Connie. I've forwarded it more than a few
times to a few folks who tolerate my "hobby"...even some in my own family!

David

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