Hi all, I trust that you all you rootschatters had a nice summer. Nothing to report on George Goodman unfortunately. Although even on holidays my mind is never too far away from our ancestors, sad really, I know.
I was recently in North Cyprus and found myself looking around a small grave yard! It struck me how dilapidated the graves appeared to be, even though some were not that old. One, for instance, was 1972 and appeared to have Greek writing. Following a little research, I now know that there are no relatives living, in North Cyprus, to look after the graves. This situation arose when the Greeks fled North Cyprus in 1974, when the Turks invaded. I believe a similar situation exists in the south with the Turkish graves. They are either neglected or vandalized or both. However, I have read that a couple of guys, one Turkish and one Greek, are now running a business, although living in opposite parts of Cyprus. The Turkish gentleman attends to the Greek graves of relatives, who pay for his services, from southern Cyprus. The Greek gentleman does the same for Turkish relatives. They have expressed how it is important to strike now, while there are living relatives who remember these departed people. The future generation may feel that the relatives are too distant to do anything about the graves.
In a way my collective family have, in recent years, attended to a similar task. My grandfather, Hubert Goodman, son of George Goodman b.1844, has had his grave restored. Hubert died in the 1950s. My brother organized this and family members each paid an amount towards the restoration. My brother also felt that we needed to do this currently as future generations may not. It was nice to see my Grandfather's WW1 involvement acknowledged on the headstone also.
George Goodman's patch of grass, in Chorleywood Road cemetery, was a pauper's grave, therefore I have no right to do anything structurally to the ground. However, it does concern me, that if the road is widened, as we suspect it may be in the future, this spot will no longer exist.
My Italian in laws, as per their custom, are given the bones of their departed to move into another casket, should space be needed. Although it is easier to do as they tend to be buried above ground in the first place. All this got me thinking generally, as some of us now choose to be cremated, documentation for future generations will be vital. Either in paper form or computerized form, war and floods and fire permitting. Perhaps I have been watching too much T.V about valuable DNA findings in cold cases. Aw well, it is also the month of Halloween and I am hoping that my ghoulish thinking may be excused..
