Portsmouth, New Hampshire

In the Arms of Angels:  Their (but really her) epitaph reads: "Girlfriends are family we choose for ourselves." These two angels are a little different from the others we have seen in the past few days, though. One appears to be female, the other male. And, they are the first angels we have seen without hearts. Perhaps it would be better if we had an angelologist to help us with this interpretation rather than an epigrapher, since the latter specializes in deciphering writing (graphein) upon (epi) the stone. Calvary Cemetery. [2019]

Seabrook, New Hampshire

Live Your Dash:  She lived her dash loving lighthouses and what they symbolized. As for her nickname, what does that add to the story of how she lived her dash? She would have been the right age for the bobby sox craze of the 1940s and 50s, which may tell us something about her personality. Hillside Cemetery. [2019]

Seabrook, New Hampshire

Lighthouse Theology 6:  Psalm 27:1 ~ "The Lord is my light and my salvation." ESV ~ "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Hillside Cemetery. [2019]

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The First Shall be Last, and The Last First:  Here is someone who did not get the memo: A last, Z first. Instead, we have a name that spans the alphabet from A to Z. What's the national origin? Clue 1: blend-defying consonants in close proximity. Clue 2: a cross bedecked with a rosary. Clue 3: a lighthouse that looks like a pole. Now, can you think of a name that spans the alphabet from Z to A?  Calvary Cemetery. [2019]

Concord, New Hampshire

Cemetery Visitors:  Some people come to the cemetery not to visit long-gone relatives, but to make gravestone rubbings. It is an attempt to preserve and disseminate the past. Better check before you rub, though. In some cemeteries, you must have a permit. South Burial Ground. [1976]

Concord, New Hampshire

The Last Shall Be First, and The First Last:  Polish immigrants have contributed so many Z-names to the American cultural landscape. Here is another one: Zukowski, derived from the Polish word for "brave" (maybe). Or, perhaps derived from a place named Zukow or Zuchow. Calvary Cemetery. [2018]

Hinsdale, New Hampshire

Covered Bridges on the Landscape:  It may not be Grover's Corners, but it is New Hampshire. Thornton Wilder may have given the most eloquent voice to bridges in their role as headstone icons: "There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning." The quote is from "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" (which was not a covered brdige). [2009]