A Comforting Reunion with a Spirit, by David Moore

It was the end a of cool spring day and my wife and I were looking for an escape from our regular route to walk our dogs. We chose to visit an old cemetery just outside the center of town. The sky was becoming clouded over with rays of sunshine peeking through. It was marked with shades of dark blue clouds mixed with patches of blue sky. The air had turned crisp with sunset approaching, as we got out of our car.

Our dogs we oblivious of the natural beauty around us, they were just interested in the new smells. The stark grey leafless trees, inside of the granite fence posts with their rusted red iron rails marked ancient family plots. An occasional evergreen and a few lonesome daffodils added a little color to the scene. The grass is still brown with patches of green and a few tattered flags, that had made it through the winter.

Walking along the paths of the aging roadway I notice names of folks once prominent in the town. Among them are not only names from history but as time goes on, I notice many more that I knew personally. There are even a few stones of my students scattered among them. I had walked these solemn, peaceful paths many times over the past 70 years sometimes, looking for answers or at others just seeking comfort in my thoughts.

This evening was different in a way. I seemed to be noticing more of the surroundings, crisp air, sharp edges, unmanicured landscape following winter's cold blasts. It was a calming evening, just slowly drifting along with my wife and my dogs in the lead in what seemed a slower pace than usual. The hectic pace of life had slowed down.

As I was ambling along, I began to think of the numerous trips that I have made with my mother over the past few years, assisting her in taking care of graves of her loved ones that have passed, in other cemeteries. At 94, the realization that there are more of her friends below the ground than above must weigh heavily on her thoughts.

Are we really here to walk among the graves or visit the spirits of those past that remain in our minds?  I feel that those spirits remain with us as time goes on and sometimes a stroll among the headstones can bring them back to us.

 On this particular evening, my mind was adrift with many thoughts, when I gradually sensed a feeling of warmth and calm surrounding me. It was like a great big, invisible, soft, warm blanket slowly encircling me. I felt an inner peace as I drifted along. It seemed to be so much more comforting than I had ever experience before, a welcomed encounter. It felt like a warm, familiar cloud of safety surrounding me. The cares of the world briefly disappeared as I walked along. I didn’t stop to look around as I knew the area very well. I had just passed grandparent’s final resting place and I was going up small incline that I had played on many times as a young child. I used to love to run down that slope and my grandmother would often have to pick me up and dust off my scraped knees. This evening, I am sure it was her spirit with me, her love once again surrounding me, assuring me that everything was going to be alright, like she used to do when I fell.

As I moved down the road, I could feel the chill of the night air gradually returning, and I came out of that warm cocoon. I didn’t regret or miss the loss of the warm and close feeling. I just felt the refreshing afterglow of a wonderful experience. She had wiped away my tears and comforted life’s bruised knees.