Good morning everyone. Well, Saturday has rolled around once more and having just returned from walking the dogs, I’m happy to report that it is very mild out there, although it is quite windy.
After less than two weeks many of the graves are looking decidedly unkempt.
November 1st is a special day in Germany. In fact, it is a Public holiday.
Everywhere is closed, and in the evening almost the entire population of each town or city will have visited, or are visiting, the graves of their departed relatives.
Each grave will be bedecked with floral tributes and many lit candles.
In the evening it is a sight to behold. Crowds of people streaming into and out of the entrances to the cemetery.
Of course many of these folk will have visited the grave earlier in the week, simply to make the grave presentable purely for the benefit of neighbours and others who might recognise the family name, but soon thereafter the grave will resume its usual neglected appearance.
In one secluded section of the cemetery there is a very small area dedicated to the graves of small children .
In total there are thirty seven graves, and of these about thirty are regularly visited by parents and relatives.
The tiny graves are decorated with many toys and paper windmills, but there, there at the back, are two or three that appear to never have been visited.
I often stand and wonder about the kind of parent who can completely ignore the passing of a small child.
It is not in my nature to comment on the actions of others, but it does make me wonder as I wipe the tears from my eyes;
Where are you? Who are you? What are you?.
Kitos.
