I had a Facebook memory pop up today. One year ago, I did a funeral and posted a video message from the cemetery. Today I spent time in the Holy Cross Cemetery. One of the issues on the reservation is the lack of care for Cemeteries. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say the spotty care of cemeteries. Some areas are well tended to by families. Other areas are not touched at all.

There is a burial scheduled for tomorrow. I went to the cemetery to cut the grass around the gravesite. The tribe had dug the hole and the pill of dirt made it easy to find the future grave.

A couple of years ago I was asked to do a service at a gravesite to install the gravestone for a family. I was embarrassed at the condition of the site. We walked to the grave through overgrown grass and weeds. I decided then to make the care of the graveyard a side project for me.

Today in addition to clearing the grass around the grave for Monday, I cleared the grass from many of the roads. I edged the roads. I cleared the areas around the entrance. I created paths through the cemetery to allow families to visit gravesites a little easier. I placed gravestones back on to their bases. I trimmed around the graves of veterans. (There are a large number of military stones.) I saw graves from the 1800’s. I dented the amount of work needed.

I thought about what I want when I die. I do not want a grave that in time will be taken over by nature. That will be forgotten. I have told my family that I want to be cremated. My ashes spread to the wind.

It may not mean much in the grand scheme of things. Yet I hope it lets families know that someone cares. Because God loves them and so do I.