Being a photographer for so long, I have a natural fascination with cemeteries. Have you ever noticed that about photographers? Almost every one has pictures taken in a cemetery.

I love the quiet and peacefulness of a cemetery. It’s not a morbid thing to me. I view it as a record of history.

Lately, the same can be said of the obituary. I guess it is something that you start to notice as you get a little older. While most obituaries are short and to the point, I like the long ones that make you feel as if you might have actually known the person in life. Or wished you did.

I was reading one this morning, a man had passed away at the age of 99. He had driven trucks and made Jeep tires during WWII, and after he retired from the tires plant, went on to work at a church. Can you imagine the stories he could have told?

I love history and every time I read one of these long obituaries, I am touched in some way. In a very short span of time, a few sentences really, you can sum up a person’s life.

That amazes me. Live life all that time and have it summarized into three or four paragraphs.

I want to live the kind of life that it would take a book to write to tell it all. The truth is, almost anyone’s life could fill a book. It would be pretty interesting as well. Why? Because every life is precious and has a story to tell.

I guess I am just a romantic at heart. I value life and what it means to live. I value history and what it has to tell. I know that  the journey one takes is at least as important as the destination they reach.