The Family Plot: Decorating

So the latest shenanigans involve Lisa, Raul, Agnes and Me decorating the family cemetery. Nothing formal; envision people preparing for a yard sale and you are closer to the real picture. At various times, someone would find something to bring from the house to the graveyard. And why not? It had taken the form of a real cemetery. Now there is a beautiful iron fence, gate, and sweeping trellice announcing in bold: BUTLAND CEMETERY. And there is a real body in there too!

Recent mysteriously appearing contributions include cacti of various types in pots, statuettes from around the house now standing guard over their master's patch, and my favorite, one of dad's hats, with a feather that has also seen better days sticking out of it, perched on the stone that used to be his temporary headsone while we waited for V.A. to send the real deal. (I am not sure if the pile of 5 empty beer cans, one spent bottle of cheap vodka and several dixie cups lying at 11 o'clock to dad's head were placed there as decoration or were a by-product of drunken oversight, but seem to fit the scene nicely too).

During these days of decoration I noticed once as we were leaving, Lisa was hiding something from me. As we exited the cemetery, I saw her lag moments behind me, pull that secretive something from her pocket, and leave it on the aforementioned rock. We did not speak of it, but I wondered what it could have been.

Later in the week, Raul called me. He had been to visit Dad's grave. He said he liked the aesthetic improvements. His favorite, the rubber frog, the one that used to sit on the back porch, now perched on the rock. I could almost hear Lisa and Dad sharing a cross-dimensional chuckle at her special surprise for him and us.

The magic of this whole process begins to take form. Everyone had a part to play in his final days, final dispatchment and final disposition. In doing it his way, Dad somehow empowered us to bring a soul of creativeity the trip with him.

Meaning is slippery. Like a frog. But each of us has grabbed onto meaningful ever-after moments. More importantly, I believe each of us feels like we are co-creaters in meaningful connections with what is now our beloved past.