I am inspired by this week’s photo challenge. I haven’t done one before so not sure how it works but here goes…
A photo with letters is the challenge. To me letters are the elements of the codes that enable us to communicate. They are an integral part of our written language; symbols and images that help us to express our ideas and our feelings when we cannot use gestures and voice.
We are in the UK for a short visit from NZ and we visited my Dad’s grave today. I have always been fascinated by the language used on headstones and how it changes through the centuries. Often there is a formula which has varied little in essence over the years. The words have changed as language has evolved and we have become less formal but the formula is similar. I wonder if that is because in times of stress and when our worlds are turned upside down we need some scaffolding to help us know what to do. We follow societal norms and stick to what has gone before. “Loving father/son/mother/daughter/wife ….” “Forever in our hearts”.
I like this headstone because the words tells us something about the person that lies beneath. “A bell ringer and chorister”. What a wealth of images that conjures up about his life! We can trace family connections through the names and dates on the headstones headstones which is is fascinating in itself but they tell us little of the lives of the people and how they lived.
My Dad’s headstone is simple but the plate on the bench (which was made by my sister) beside him says it all;
I wonder what image that conjures up about my Dad for the people who sit on the bench and contemplate? Certainly not a complete picture of the man I looked up to and loved, but an important part of him.
