{"id":1330,"date":"2012-05-31T19:00:55","date_gmt":"2012-05-31T23:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2012-05-31T10:52:29","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T14:52:29","slug":"i-see-dead-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/05\/i-see-dead-people.html","title":{"rendered":"I See Dead People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the Memorial Holiday we made a trip to the family cemetary.\u00a0 It’s where all my family are buried.\u00a0 In fact my great-grandfather donated the land for the church and cemetary in the early 1800’s.\u00a0 My maiden name was Gruver, as you can see on these tomb stones.\u00a0 We took a wreath out to place on my parents grave.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then I visited my aunts and uncles, and all my brothrs and sisters.\u00a0 I am the youngest in our immediate family and the only one still alive.\u00a0 We had a little family renion that day.\u00a0 I told my husband to bring me a chair and let me just stay there.\u00a0 Holidays are for family gatherings and this is where my family now resides.\u00a0 Of course, he didn’t leave me there. but I could have stayed for hours recalling all the good times we had.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I didn’t really see dead people, except in my minds eye.\u00a0 I remember Mom rushing around getting ready for our Memorial\u00a0 Day picnic.\u00a0 Her potato salad was the best, and oh, those fresh strawberry pies.\u00a0 I got to pick the strawberries.\u00a0 My brother, Donnie would bring the watermelon and\u00a0 sister, Judy would make the best baked beans. Tom and Brenda were still at home, so they helped set up the tables and chairs in the yard.\u00a0 We had a good time.<\/p>\n

After lunch we would shoot bows and arrows or play baseball.\u00a0 The older people would take a nap.\u00a0 Then for supper we would eat the left overs and everyone stayed until dark.\u00a0 Sometimes we mixed in a few neighbors or cousins to make the games more fun.\u00a0 We would play hide and seek and catch fireflies.<\/p>\n

Memories are nice to have, but always must return to the land of the living.\u00a0 When a loved one dies, we don’t really grieve for them, we grieve for ourselves.\u00a0 We are the ones left behind to carry on.\u00a0 We are the ones with an empty place at the table and in our hearts.\u00a0 But, alas, death is part of life and we all must face it.\u00a0 I am so thankful that Jesus can comfort us as no one else.\u00a0 Knowing that loved ones are now in His presence takes the sting out of death. (I Corinthians 15:54-58)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the Memorial Holiday we made a trip to the family cemetary.\u00a0 It’s where all my family are buried.\u00a0 In fact my great-grandfather donated the land for the church and cemetary in the early 1800’s.\u00a0 My maiden name was Gruver, as you can see on these tomb stones.\u00a0 We took a wreath out to place…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement"],"yoast_head":"\nI See Dead People - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/05\/i-see-dead-people.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I See Dead People - Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the Memorial Holiday we made a trip to the family cemetary.\u00a0 It’s where all my family are buried.\u00a0 In fact my great-grandfather donated the land for the church and cemetary in the early 1800’s.\u00a0 My maiden name was Gruver, as you can see on these tomb stones.\u00a0 We took a wreath out to place…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/05\/i-see-dead-people.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-05-31T23:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-05-31T14:52:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2012\/05\/IMG_04265-202x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dhanny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I See Dead People - 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