Hey Tracy:
So what'd ya name the toad? Gramps? Haw Haw. Good tale. Cheryl
----- Original Message -----
From: Tracy Jones <ptjones(a)scican.net>
To: <CHAPMAN-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 11:20 AM
Subject: [CHAPMAN-L] Visit to an old cemetery
This is not *exactly* genealogy-related, but since I was on a
genealogical
quest when it occurred, I thought I'd share
it with you. As many of know, I'm an author and write mainly
historical
gothic romance, usually dotted with paranormal
elements. This might help you see the humor in the following story.
We
were attending an out-of-town reunion where my
my mother grew up. Her cousin had located an old (early 1800s)
cemetery,
not more than 24' X 24', right on the side of
a gravel road, with a tiny fence even a small child could step over,
and
almost completely overgrown with weeds. Some
of the flat headstones had been lifted and propped up on rocks near
the
adjacent cow pasture (I kid you not), and we
were just sort of walking over the squishy ground, trying to read the
faded stones that were still intact. The rain had
recently ended, but the late afternoon sky was gray and gloomy.
Suddenly,
as I stood on the final resting place of my
3rd ggrandmother (or maybe it was my 3rd ggrandfather, I think they
stacked them back then *g*), I felt a cold, clammy
finger slide out of the grave, and right up my pantsleg (I was
wearing
sandals, no socks). I about jumped out of my
skin, and so did the little toad who had invaded my privacy LOL. I
was
sooooo thrilled, I grinned ear to ear, and said,
"Now, how cool was *that*??" And my relatives (we're
talking mom and a
few of her cousins, my children, my siblings and
their children) all looked at me as if I'd gone completely daft.
Except
my 12-year old nephew, who made it his business
to find something to catch the toad in so he could take it home. Of
all
the cemetery trips I've made, that has got to
be one of the best. *G*
Tracy Chapman Jones, Genealogy & Links
http://scican.net/~ptjones/genealogy.html
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