Call me a ghoul, but I love graveyards. Old graveyards, with huge ornate marble monuments, not those soulless new ones with those mower friendly flat stones. I want to walk amongst cherubs, obelisks, mausoleums, and dinosaurs. That's right, I said dinosaurs. Recently when my equally ghoulish son and I visited the Greenhill Cemetery in Laramie, Wyoming, I was surprised and delighted to find this grave with a simple handmade pyramid, and graced with a plastic dinosaur.
Is this a grandchild's forgotten toy, or a playful tribute to someone's life?
The University of Wyoming now surrounds this beautiful cemetery in the heart of Laramie, and if you are mood for a nice stroll you can stop in at the office and pick up a booklet that will introduce you to some of the cemetery's more notable residents. But, let's leave the upper crust for later and have a look at Bob. The booklet "Welcome to Greenhill Cemetery," tell us that no one remembers who Bob was, but this simple cross tells part of the story.
It simply states, "BOB. CHARLIE LEFT YOU HERE MAY.10.1894"
We spent a few minutes with Bob, but like Charlie, my son and I "left him there", and then we went to hold court with a local Madam Christy Grover. Christy, found her way into the cemetery when according to the booklet she may have committed "suicide" with the help of her husband.
While visiting with this notorious "soiled dove," I began looking around at some of her neighbors. I spotted a grave with the name "Westbrook," and thought to myself, "I'm related to some "Westbrooks." Sure enough a closer look let me know that I had found the graves of my own Great Aunt Midge and Uncle Lon. We spent a few minutes "catching up," with Aunt Midge who lived to be 102 years old. Way to go Aunt Midge.
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