Snow Angel
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
Canada
January 7, 2018 8:14am CST
It looks like I'm into death right now, because of our friend Anna
@LadyDuck losing her mom and then my reading in the paper yesterday about “Green Burials”...
But its winter and this memory comes back to me every Winter.
My mother died peacefully in her sleep just before Christmas many years ago.
We took our children out of school, packed suitcases and headed to upstate New York. Once there we had lots of things to do. Mom's funeral and burial was a few days before Christmas.
The weather was winter, there was a lot of snow but I don't remember it being nasty cold. My sister and I took a walk to the cemetery. While there, we noticed how nice the snow was and started playing with it. We ended up putting wings on a snow man to make a snow angel to watch over our mother for as long as it could stand.
I don't remember how long it stood but it did make it through the night and the minister said he went to see what it was and was delighted to see a snow angel looking over our mother.
My sister and I shared a few tears while there but really enjoyed the end. Leaving we could hear our mother laughing... well not really but we knew she would love it.
We didn't have a camera with us so the photo above was found on line.
Have you ever played in a cemetery? We often walk in the cemetery to see old friends. As children we played hide and seek in that cemetery with the minister and his kids...it was scary as a child in the dark but great fun too.
18 people like this
17 responses
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
7 Jan 18
What a wonderful thing you did!
Sometimes I walk through and look at the old headstones and the dates, mostly I am putting flowers on graves when I visit.
6 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
8 Jan 18
@Ganma7 @andriaperry me too, the history especially on the very old stones is amazing.
1 person likes this
@Ganma7 (3664)
•
8 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate exactly! Some stones have a history on them. Hobbies listed and even pictures carved. I love reading names. Years too!
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (458976)
• Switzerland
8 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate Cemeteries in Europe are very different, I have noticed. No one can pass the gates of a cemetery during night.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
13 Jan 18
It was allowed when I was a kid, the minister participated in our play, I'm pretty sure he was teaching us that we don't need to be afraid to be there, the people buried there would enjoy knowing we were happy.
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
13 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate a very good way looking at this.
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
8 Jan 18
how beautiful.. and how touching that you thought to fo that... what a lovely thing to do... it bought a lump to my throat... playing in cemetery's is not encouraged in england... so no I've not played in one...but now I'm older I do like to walk in them as I feel it is a special place of peace... 
2 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
9 Jan 18
As Children we played hide and seek and other kid games in the cemetery, we had permission from the minister...
1 person likes this
@Happy2BeMe (99390)
• Canada
7 Jan 18
What a beautiful thing to do. I talk my daily walks in the cemetary behind where I live. As a kid we use to like to play in the cemetary when it got dark.
3 people like this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
9 Jan 18
We didn't have a camera with us so the photo above was found on line.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
12 Jan 18
@kavinitu we think so, our mom would have loved it.
1 person likes this
@kavinitu (5535)
• India
11 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate oh I wish you had a Camera you could have captured the original one. I'm sure your mom must have really loved it
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
13 Jan 18
You don't know what you missed, especially if you were a kid in the cemetery.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
17 Jan 18
I don't think I have played but I love cemeteries as a genealogist they are one of my favorite destinations.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
17 Jan 18
As a kid we played in the cemetery, now like you I look for the history. We played hide and seek, and during a sleepover the father of one of the girls put on a sheet and scared the daylights out of us..but me, the one who knew it couldn't be a ghost I chased the ghost and pulled off the sheet and almost fainted because I didn't recognize him - he was my doctor but I must have been scared because I didn't recognize him. fond crazy scary memories....
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (48537)
• Canada
7 Jan 18
I think that was a very touching thing to do at the cemetery.
As long as I can remember the cemetery was a place to visit and to be taught about history. My Grandpa used to take us kids there to the family plot to explain our roots to us. And it helped. I have a better understanding of how hard the family members worked just to survive as well as thrive in this world, especially in those early days. And I have a better understanding of rest in peace, and all that goes with it.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (48537)
• Canada
14 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate This was the site that I used.
Just be careful, you could spend hours here!
CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project On 23 Dec 2017 Rootsweb removed access to all websites hosted on their servers. Most of CanadaGenWeb is hosted on Rootsweb and this action made our websites inaccessible both to us and to you our visitors. Unfortunately ther
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
13 Jan 18
I love reading the history. My parents made sure we saw our grands stones. I found one in the Grimsby Cemetery just wandering with my camera one day. It told a story on it about a young couple in a horse and wagon being hit by the train that goes through Grimsby....long ago and I loved the stone but it was faded. I did look for it one day and found a brand new stone with the story etched...so glad its easier to read but the age of the first stone was priceless.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
15 Jan 18
@Juliaacv Thank you and you made me laugh on this cold morning...
1 person likes this
@CinnamonGrl (7083)
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
7 Jan 18
The snow angel was such a sweet idea. Don't you wish it could have stayed forever?
I enjoy walking through cemeteries, especially the really old ones that go back forever. It's interesting t imagine the peoples' lives way back when. It can be sad too, though. People would die so much younger and so many children were lost to diseases we now are able to immunize against.There's a kind of romance to cemeteries.
2 people like this
@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
18 Jan 18
We don't mind being in a cemetery-very interesting about the snow angel @PainsOnSlate
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
18 Jan 18
We don't either and it was a spur of a moment that made us make the angel...
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
10 Jan 18
We moved to the country out of the city when I was about 7, we joined the local church and were very active with the youth groups and all church events. Back then there were four homes between our home and the Church about a mile away, its not that rural anymore. I don't know what is happening now but back in the 50's the cemetery was a place where we church members children were allowed to play in the cemetery. We had many scary nights at the minister's sleep over (he had 4 children - girls too) because every sleep over was a night after dark in the cemetery. Scary fun... I admit I have never played in a cemetery but that one...
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
10 Jan 18
i still like visiting cemeteries, I am always awed by the history. I do chat with my parents too when I'm there.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247191)
• United States
10 Jan 18
@PainsOnSlate Yes, I've visited some very special cemeteries on my travels. Galapagos and Prague blew me away.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
10 Jan 18
We will always remember our parents, no matter how old we get.
@shaggin (71663)
• United States
7 Jan 18
That is so sweet you and your sister built a snowman angel to watch over your mother at the cemetary! What neat memories you have playing in that cemetary when you were young as well! The snow angel in the photo is beautiful. I hate the cold to much to want to ever play in the snow again lol.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
13 Jan 18
I still like playing in the snow but I certainly do't do it as much as I did as a kid. I loved skiing as an adult until I hurt my knees.
1 person likes this
@Ganma7 (3664)
•
8 Jan 18
Beautiful picture, memory and great idea to leave with a loved one for peace of mind and to make your heart happy. Thank you for sharing
