Woonsocket, Rhode Island

Defined by Our Duds:  The doughboys were the GIs of World War I. (No, not that kind of doughboy.) As soldiers, they were decked out in military duds appropriate for the age. Here's one in action. He seems to have died in his thirties, shortly after he served on the battlefield. He may have been born in Quebec or shortly after his parents arrived to work in the mills of Woonsocket. Immigrants they were, and proud to send their precious blood into battle to fight for the freedoms they loved in the country they came to call home. Precious Blood Cemetery. [2019]

Tampa, Florida

Getting Ready for Good Friday:  By the time the sun rose on the first Good Friday, the Passover meal of the night before was already a memory, and events in Jerusalem were taking a decidedly dark turn. Jesus' last supper has become an iconic part of the Easter story. It has been memorialized in many Christian cemeteries, especially where Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians are interred. The cemetery here was founded in 1942 for immigrants to Tampa from Cuba and Spain. Centro Asturiano Cemetery. [2014]

Maysville, Kentucky

Zoning Out ~ Review of the Model:  The burial zone is out of sight. What we know about George and Daisy is what we see on the grave marker. Attached to their pet, they seem to have been: a huntin' dog according to the symbolism of the powder horn. In this bas relief, though, the posture suggests a hound that has put his hunting days behind him. Although he is still alert, it's time to rest. He dominates the design and takes center stage on the marker. He must have taken center stage in their lives as well. Maysville-Mason County Cemetery. [2013]

Barre, Vermont

Focus on Hope Cemetery:  In the early 20th century, immigrants from northern Italy brought their chisels and hammers to the Green Mountains and applied them to one of the world's greatest reserves of tombstone-quality granite. Back in the old country, they had role models like Michelangelo. In Vermont, they became role models. Marking the grave of Albert Ceppi is a bas relief of the sculptor drawing both himself and Jesus out of a granite block: a dual resurrection. [2002]

Barre, Vermont

Focus on Hope Cemetery:  With the Rock of Ages granite quarry next door, you might expect to find the world's best granite memorials on display at Barre's Hope Sculpture Garden. Sorry, Hope Cemetery. How better to say "At Rest" than with a bed (or two: so 1950s!). It looks like the Halvosas are wearing new pajamas. [1983]

Set me as a seal
Upon thine heart
For love is strong
As death
Song of Solomon 8:6