I go to the Old Harpswell Common Burying Ground to remind me of life. Yes, you read that correctly. Most people steer clear of graveyards because they’re afraid of them. They think people who actually choose to walk through them are at best, weird, and at worst, deranged. Why would anyone choose to walk among the dead? I choose to do so because it reminds me that someday that’s where I will be--where we will all be--but today is not that day. Today is a day to be alive, and being alive is a great gift.
 |
| Here lies Hannah Baily, who died in 1765 at the age of 10. |
Hannah Baily was 10 years old when she died in 1765 before
the United States
was its own country. She was probably
like most 10-year-olds today, although I’ll bet she had a lot more work to do,
and so she might have been a bit more mature.
You could tell her all about the video games that 10-year-olds play
today, but Hannah wouldn’t care about that.
She might have cared about nice weather, though, and fertile
gardens. Hannah might have cared about
heavily-laden fruit trees and cool ocean water on her feet. She might have cared about storing enough
food to make it through the winter and taking care of small farm animals. But Hannah wouldn’t have cared about
television or cellphones, video games or makeup.
Yesterday was a great day to be alive, and so was
today. I think it’s safe to say that
tomorrow will also be a great day to be alive.
However, I doubt tomorrow will be a great day to be distracted by
meaningless electronic devices. It
probably won’t be a great day for worrying about fashion or who owes you a text
message. It definitely won’t be a great
day for lounging around and doing nothing to explore your life. No.
Tomorrow is a day to live, to strive, to work, to share, to love, to be.
Today was a beautiful sunny day of 70 degrees with a strong
ocean breeze and the scent of roses everywhere.
Most people would call it paradise.
I know I certainly thought it was, but Hannah Baily doesn’t care about
that anymore either.
