When I was growing up, Forest Hill Cemetery was a place I ran past quickly. I was not aware of death until my father's father died when I was a teenager. I didn't know him well since we had only visited a few times. Once I married Steve, I joined the annual family trek to Forest Hill to tend the graves of his ancestors. One hundred eighty years of Osbornes, Reeds, Elwells and Cobbs, all early settlers of Fredonia, are buried there. My ancestors were more recent immigrants and since my parents moved to the area when they married soon after WWII, I did not feel the continuity of family history.
While the kids were young, they accompanied us and it was almost festive. We planted flowers and explored the gravestones. Now all four of our parents rest in that cemetery and I think about the depth of our family connections to this place. Each year a flag is placed at my dad's stone along with all the other vets in our family like Uncle Harry and Captain Thomas Osborne. So many veterans, so many service men and women, past and present.
My friends Rachel and Laraine
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