What It Means to Me

Cemetery: a word that brings to mind a myriad of emotions, ranging from fear to a sense of loss. For some people, visiting a cemetery could be exciting- it’s a place to explore the mysteries of life and death. For others, it could be a place of inexplicable peace. And then of course, there are people who like to visit the cemetery at twilight, for the sake of finding a ghostly story to narrate.

It’s almost impossible for a person to not think of ghosts while thinking of cemeteries. And while the idea of seeing a ghost reminded me of funny incidents from books (this is what happens when you read Harry Potter with too much of devotion; ghosts hardly seem to be a problem when you have Dementors running around the place), I decided that this is not how I am going to think of cemeteries- at least not until I go to one and have a creepy experience myself. I just do not like the idea of having negative thoughts about a place that holds such meaning for those whose loved ones have been put to rest.

Having never been to a cemetery, I do not feel like I have the experience to talk about it as much as others can.  What came to my mind first and foremost, when I thought about writing this post, were the various books and movies which have characters that have some sort of connection to the place.

The first one that I thought of was Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries. A girl who lost her parents in an accident, she often sat by their graves and wrote in her journal, trying to hold on to something her mother always encouraged her to do- write her heart out, even when she had forgotten how to live. It was at the cemetery that she caught the first glimpse of the person who was to help her find reasons to smile.

The next character I remembered was Pierce Oliviera from Meg Cabot’s Abandon Trilogy. A teenager now, she is still somehow drawn to the cemetery where she went as a child, to her grandfather’s funeral. A place where she met a man whose future was meant to be linked with hers, in ways she could never have imagined.

I also thought of Peter Parker, who lost the only father figure he had as well as his best friend, and how the funeral in each film had a much greater impact on me than the rest of the movie did.

I thought of Harry and Hermione, as they set off to Godric’s Hollow, and how the graveyard next to the Church held so many mysteries for them. I remembered the words inscribed on James and Lilly Potter’s tombstone-

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

There could be a million different ways in which we connect to the departed, and a hundred different reasons why we would go to the cemetery. But while the place might definitely be spooky, it’s also true that, 

“Darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.”

Posted as a part of Theme Thursday and the prompt this week is Cemetery.