Photo-of-the-Week #136 - My Grandmother's Grave Marker, Cedar Lawn Cemetery, Paterson, New Jersey, September 2013

It seems that many of us begin looking for our roots at some stage of life. After the kids are grown and we're at the end of our professional career seems to be a time when we can change gears and focus on other aspects of our lives that we didn't have time for earlier.

I took this photo of my grandmother's grave when I was on my recent 'Shakedown Cruise" to New Jersey and my hometown, Clifton, New Jersey. Yes! That is "the Hat" on her marker. It was my way of reaching out to her. I guess I should also make note of the fact that I had never seen my grandmother's grave before. She was simply a name to me. Obviously, since she died 13 years before I was born, I never met her. Unfortunately, my son never met his grandfather either, my grandmother's son and my father, because he died 11 years before my son was born. I have also never met my grandfather and have no idea where to find him or anything about him.

So, as you can see, this was, for me, a moving experience. I spent quite a bit of time at this spot just reflecting and wondering what she was like. She's actually in a family plot with her parents and bothers and sisters. Cedar Lawn Cemetery is the family cemetery, their whole family is there, my maternal grandparents are there and my mother and father are there. I finally went to the administration office and had them look up the plot and tell me where to find it. So, this photo represents another connection in my life.