I love visiting old cemeteries. So many stories waiting to be told! People who lived in past centuries had a different take on death than we do today. Life expectancy was shorter and many babies didn’t live to see their first birthday.
I’m always struck by the evidence of people’s faith engraved on the stones. Little Clarence Goettinger was two years old when he was taken away from loving parents. They erected an angel to watch over his tomb. You can read the verse they had inscribed on the stone below.
Apalachicola’s old cemetery had Confederate graves, victims of shipwreck and yellow fever, and many monuments to dearly loved children. Even across the centuries you can still feel the pain of losing a loved one.
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| A child’s gravestone with Scripture. |
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| Spanish moss, white sand, and seashells everywhere. |
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| One creepy grave. When I was a kid, I would’ve wanted to look in there! |
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| A family grave. Four infants lost. The tiny stone slabs that mark the grave’s outlines are heart-rending. |
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| The stone at the foot of Clarence’s grave.
Clarence Goettinger closed his eyes in death, |
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| Clarence’s angel. |
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| A Confederate grave. 2nd Florida Cavalry. |
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