Sunday, August 16, 2009

Memorial Mausoleum Reflection

This week I really enjoyed touring the memorial mausoleum. It gave me a whole new sense of what a cemetery can look like and it was truly beautiful inside. I loved seeing all the stained glass windows, the different types of marble and the mosaics. My two favorite pieces were the mosaics that showed the path in which life was created and the stained glass window depicting the Virgin Mary surrounded by all the beautiful flowers. Seeing all the urns gave me a very different view of cremation and made it not sound quite as creepy as it once had. I loved the one of the couple dancing and the ones with pictures of those who had passed because it truly gave you a glimpse into their lives when they were living and left you with a pleasant feeling rather than a sad one like some of the older monuments with eerie iconography. As each week passes I am surprised at how much I am able to take away from our experiences and how much I am learning both about the history of our city and about my views of a cemetery, death and the after-life. I have been able to discuss the class with some of my family and friends and teach them a lot of what I have learned. Being in the class has allowed me a chance to learn about history by being among some of the important people of the past generations in a way that a history book could never achieve. I really enjoy listening to my other classmates opinions during our discussions because it allows me to hear everyones views and causes me to reflect on a lot. This class has ironically shed a lot of light on life rather than death as one would assume. Being in cemetery for seven weeks can certainly make you realize that what we have now is life and that if we do not live it to the fullest that can one day it will all end and all that will be left of us is a memorial that may or may not be remembered. So far, I must say this class has impacted me much more than I ever imagined when I first stepped foot into the cemetery on our first class.

1 comment:

  1. I too am struck by the individuality of the urns. I am so please we were able to go into the mausoleum to add to our explorations, also especially just to see the artistic aspect of it. The windows are wonderful pieces of art in their own right. One side affect of this class can be the conversations with our family that too often don't take place yet we really do need to know what people want in case there is a need for a funeral.

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