Planning Ahead for Eternity

  

  One of the things which was scheduled on our recent trip to Michigan was to attend a family service at a cemetery on the outskirts of Manchester, Michigan, the town where Al’s father was born and where his mother’s “cremains” would be interred. Al’s youngest sister, Ann Lowery, picked us up from the hotel where we were staying in the suburbs of Detroit early on Saturday morning, April 18^th and the three of us made the hour long trip out to Manchester together.

    Ann had been to the cemetery in Manchester many times and wanted to get there before the rest of the family arrived to pull out some invasive plants which were starting to cover many of the headstones. That extra hour gave Al and me time to look around the area, which was on the side of a grassy slope. He took pictures of the Lowery family headstones while I walked around and inspected the monuments. It was fascinating. A few of them just had the words “mother,” “father,” or “brother” engraved on simple headstones without names or any other identification.  

     Different generations of Lowerys had bought adjoining plots over the decades and had recorded the names, year of birth and death on granite markers so that they were easy to identify. The new plaque for Charlotte and Al Sr. which Ann had ordered and the moss-covered stones of Lowery ancestors were side by side in two rows, with the oldest birth date being 1864….151 years ago!

     The friendly groundsman, whose name was Mike, drove up in a quad with a small trailer attached. While helping to set up the area for Char’s service, he shared more history about the cemetery. Records weren’t always accurate before he was employed there forty years ago. Mike recalled times when he had been in the process of digging a grave on a bare parcel, only to have his shovel hit cement—an unmarked crypt. People had also come to him in the past saying they were sure that one of their relatives was buried in the Manchester cemetery, but where? No records could be found.

     We were glad that Al’s family had taken care of the sites and markers so that we could visit them a century or so later. How many Lowery parcels were left, we wondered? Mike told us there was still room for eleven more of us! They really were planning ahead!    

     When all of the family had gathered together, we formed a circle around the pedestal holding a large ceramic urn. Char’s granddaughter Jenn, who planned and led the service, shared her memories; and afterwards Char’s middle daughter, Barb, also shared special thoughts of her mom. The urn was then put down in the ground along with flowers, photos and other small mementos.  

     Three generations and spouses watched silently while Mike filled in the dirt around the urn. Then we joined hands and repeated the words from the Lord’s Prayer together, with the warmth from the sun on our backs and the sweet feeling of the His presence in our hearts as we said our final “good-byes” to a loving and special woman.

     Charlotte had put her faith in Christ and had planned ahead for this time, for eternity...a very good thing to do. May we all follow her example!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 NIV

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NIV