The Celtic Cross, such as this in Cashel, Ireland, is popular on monuments.
St. Peter’s Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Salzburg, Austria.
An angel memorial is accentuated by fall leaves in the Asheville, North Carolina, cemetery.
The view from Frankfort Cemetery offers an advantageous view of the Kentucky Capitol.
Visitors leave $1.87 on the tombstone of William Sydney Porter, whose pen name was O. Henry, to honor the characters Jim and Della in the short story, The Gift of the Magi. One dollar and eighty-seven cents was all Della had to buy Jim’s Christmas gift.
(Editor’s Note: We are republishing a previous Marjorie Appelman column as she takes some time off.)
Laced around the outer edge of the modest tombstone is an uneven row of change. A few quarters, nickels and dimes, but mostly pennies. Both shiny and worn, a particularly heavy row underscores the name of the deceased, William Syndey Porter. A few quarters, dimes and nickels line the years 1862-1910.
We didn’t calculate the amount, but my husband and I were certain that if we did, then the total would be divisible by one dollar and 87 cents.
“One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such a close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas,” wrote Porter, or O. Henry, as he was better known, in the short story The Gift of the Magi.
Published in 1905, the classic has maintained popularity throughout the years through various adaptations. As a tribute to the author and his selfless characters, Della and her husband Jim, visitors leave $1.87 on Porter’s tombstone.
It wasn’t an actual pilgrimage that attracted us to the resting place of one of my favorite American authors. It was the abundance of fall foliage and picturesque hiking that originally drew us to Asheville, North Carolina. A trip to Riverside Cemetery was a spontaneous decision.
The same is true for other trips, too. While cemeteries may not be on our original itineraries, we will often stop if time allows.
Along with a peaceful setting, cemeteries offer blooming trees and blossoming flowers in the spring. Colorful foliage in the fall. They offer serenity.
Meticulously designed. Elaborately landscaped. Pathways and sacred sections dotted with granite, marble and often limestone markers.
And as a final resting place, cemeteries provide visitors, both intentional and spontaneous, an unexpected gift. Not to be forgotten.
(Note: Marjorie Appelman is an English, communications and journalism teacher at Mason County High School and co-founder of Tales from the Trip, which is on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. She can be reached at marj.appelman@gmail.com.)
