This past week, I had the experience of visiting the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. Supposedly one of the most haunted cemeteries in the United States, it is eerily beautiful and peaceful to me. I love walking among all the headstones, reading the little bits and pieces of information I can gather about those who lived before me. I often wonder who they really were, what were their joys, fears, were they kind and thoughtful, or rough around the edges? Did they enjoy their lives to the fullest, even amidst the inevitable sorrows they experienced, along with the happy times? As I walked through the various family plots with headstones dating back over 200 years to the 1700’s, I came to the grave of a woman by the name of Ann Marion. Ann died at the age of 39 years and 7 months, just a few years older than myself. The one thing that stood out to me was the message on her gravestone, which read-
Fair Stranger
Whose feet have wandered
To this land of silence,
Contemplate this Stone
Near it is interred Dust
Which once a lovely Form,
Inhabited by a Mind,
Superior in Intelligence,
Worth and Amiableness
To most of her sex.
As a Daughter, Sister & Friend
As a Wife and Mother
Few whom she left behind
Can boast
So bright an example.
As I read her epitaph, I was first touched by the legacy she left behind to those who obviously loved her very much, and second, I loved that her gravestone left a message to a ‘Fair Stranger’. It was meant for me, and anyone who would eventually come across that path. As I thought about that greeting in particular, I thought about how intentional that message was, and beautiful that her family would think about a time when even they would no longer be around to visit her grave. But maybe someone else would, and what would they want him or her to know.
I stood there for a couple of minutes in front of her grave, and I really did contemplate the message on that stone. But what I contemplated even more as I walked away was what would I want to tell the ‘Fair Strangers’ that may eventually visit my final resting place. What would I want to be remembered for? What have I done or believed in that would be inspirational to others who come after me? And perhaps the most important question, am I that person I want to be right now, in the present? It all comes down to living intentionally, not letting the days, weeks and years pass by and just happen to you. Revisiting your choices, past times, relationships and everything that impacts you on a regular basis, making sure that they reflect the person you want to be right now in the present and the kind of person you would be remembered as in the future when you are no longer here.