My Favorite Place is a Cemetery (Pt. 2)

 Now. No one panic. I’m not a necromancer. At least, not in the magical way. Lemme ‘splain.


I live near Richmond, Virginia and it’s a very historically significant place in the South, and in the US in general. It’s been the home to many famous people, some of them presidents. I have sad news though. They’re almost all dead. And if they were a president and/or famous they were probably buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Oregon Hill, a Richmond neighborhood.


Hollywood Cemetery was first opened up for use in 1847 from land donated to Richmond by William Byrd, for whom Byrd park is named. It has a vast, rolling, gothic landscape and the western side overlooks the river. At the top of the hill, overlooking the river, is my favorite spot to sit. I like to sit and enjoy the view, but I also love being amongst the graves. Let me tell you why.


Some people, when they come to a cemetery or graveyard (burial ground attached to a church), they go as a matter of remembrance. If it’s just to look around some might even be put off by what must be an expensive undertaking. I love to see all the different headstones, the mausoleums and the monoliths. You might see rocks and wasted money. All I see are stories. I see names of souls passed on whose stories I’ll never know. At some point I have to be okay with not knowing their stories, but I love to imagine them as I pass their final resting place. 


This cemetery is old, the trees dotting the landscape are old, the bodies laid to rest vary in ranges from the late 1800s to the recently deceased, as the cemetery is actively still being used. If you ever make it to Richmond, it’s one place I highly recommend  you visit. Find a shady spot on the hill and watch the hawks and eagles catch their fish while you sit in peace. 


Now am I going to a cemetery to collect bones and perform a ritual? Don’t tempt me. But no. I do a bit of resurrecting in a different way. I want to take the stories of the people who made me and make them come alive for future generations. I want you to know who they were. They were souls, they have names, and they were people. 


And being in Hollywood Cemetery inspires me to make sure my predecessors’ names and stories come back to life.






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