All marriages start with a vow: to be together forever. Everyone says it…blah blah blah. A very rare few know what it really means. To show it. That, my friends, is the difference.
In Bear Creek Village there is a most exceptional cemetery that not just speaks from the heart, it speaks right into your own. Honestly, I could the feel sweet emotion from my first step into the Lewis family’s final resting place.
The entrance is not necessarily open to the public, with three chains closing it off at about knee level. But without any No Trespassing signs, I walked right in like I belonged there. But I didn’t. It’s all about the Lewis family. And what a family!
Straight ahead is the original and most romantic monument I’ve ever seen. Dedicated from Albert Lewis to the love of his life, 30-year-old Lizzie E. Crellin in 1883. She must have cherished natural beauty and I got a strong feeling she was one herself. The grave is towered by a granite log of 14’ tall or more, swathed in carved ivy and flowers, blessed with a log cross over top. Crowded by wild laurel, with a mossy log seat for loved ones nearby and wrapped in the arms of lounging log walls…it is the epitome of how we all want our lovers to honor us. Not their way. Our way.
Another unforgettable monument says goodbye to Albert himself, that ole’ romantic. Raised on a boulder platform, the center pedestal is crowned with a verdigris sundial, circled by a family’s sorrowful goodbye “Time Goes You Say? Alas Time Stays We Go.” Words of such refreshing simplicity echoed away in the chambers of my heart, and will for anyone who has loved, and lost.
A few more family members are memorialized throughout, copper-capped and cross-marked, resting close to mother earth. Never alone, but watched over by a magnificent spread-winged eagle both protective and proud of this most special family.
I couldn’t stay long, it was too sad. I don’t think you should stay long, it’s too private. But when you can handle feeling your heart smile, and weep, take a drive to Chapel Rd. off of Route 115. We can’t all experience a love that never dies, but we can visit one. And we can learn to love better. We can be remembered. As Albert’s family reminded me, now I remind you “to live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
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