Saturday, November 7, 2009

Some Kind of Wonderful

imageShadow and I go for a walk through the town cemetery at least 3 times a week.  It’s a safe place away from traffic and isn’t a bad place for training.  We often meet new dog friends there.  We’ve walked through there with all our dogs over the 15 years we’ve lived here and it’s amazing how many things one can miss.  I always appreciated this headstone because it is very different from most of the rest, but just recently I actually read what was on it.image

If you can’t see it, here’s a detail:image 

Spiro Christoff

Born May 17, 1889 Prilep-Macedenia, Yougoslavia

Died Aug 21, 1956 Greer, SC

I now wonder what’s the story.  Who was Spiro and how did he end up in Greer, SC?  Where exactly is Prilep?  What I found is that it is now the Republic of Macedonia on the northern border of Greece.  Prilep is almost central.  You can check out the Google map.  The photos from there are quite scenic with the mountain ranges.

As far as Spiro, he may have been driven out during one of the world wars.  The fact that it says Yougoslavia, makes me think WWII, since the Kingdom of Yugoslavia did not start until 1929.  But after the war, he didn’t go back.  I like to think he fell in love.  What do you think?

I’ll leave you with this headstone.  It catches my eye, because, of course, it reads Penland and reminds me of the school in Bakersville, NC.  Again, I finally read the stone and was shocked at what I saw.  Do you see it????

image

10 comments:

kaiteM said...

What am i looking for Jenn? i can read that there are 2 people there, a mother and a father, but what else? There's no date, that's strange.
I do like the floral corner pieces, i might copy them. cheers, K.

Life Looms Large said...

Ah, when life was simple, before computers and spellcheckers.

I don't think Bailey has ever been in a cemetery, although I think there is one in Portsmouth (the town near us with the dog park) that's popular for dog walking.

I like the carved leaves on the Penland stone.

Happy weekend!
Sue

K Spoering said...

Oh my goodness! I wonder if the family got a discount for the mis-spelling? I love cemeteries! Sooo many stories there! My favorite is the Mount Auburn cemetery in Boston. It is truly a beautiful place to be at any time of year. My travel buddies think I'm weird because I love to photograph old gravestones and monuments.

Valerie said...

But a lout of a husband.

or am I missing something else?

Bet the wife is the one who got to order the headstone.

Jennifer said...

For those who cannot see it the back of the Penland headstone reads (the names and dates are on the front):
She was a kind and affectionate wife, a fond mother and a friend to all.
He was a good man, a true friend and a woderful father.
Some kind of "wonderful"!

kaiteM said...

Funny girl, ha ha!!
I went further tho and googled 'Woder'and discovered a tombstone for Joyce Woder, so can one draw interesting conclusions here?

Theresa said...

LOL, I was also struck by the fact she was a fond mother and he, a wonderful father, do you think maybe a favored daughter did the stone?
I love graveyards. By the house in Vermont was a very old small and mostly forgotten one, you find them all through rural areas, with very old headstones, many from the late 1700 complete with skulls and wings ( angels) and all sorts of odd carvings. Very beautiful and sad too since there were more than a few for children. I too use to walk Fat Sam and Lexie there quite often as it as bordered by a high stone wall and they could chase squirrels without getting too far away.

Anonymous said...

I didn't catch the typo (carve-o?) but I did see a face in the monument. Down at the bottom on the horizontal plain of the base stone over to the right. Do you see it?
I love walking thru cemetaries, in the daytime!

Jennifer said...

Lauren - is your face the circle to the right - like a happy face??? I'll have to go back a nd look for real! There are amny where people have placed vases for flowers, I wonder if this one had something like that and resisted the weathering.

Theresa, I have always enjoyed this cemetery - particularly the names. Certainly different ones for different times. There are also a number for the children and I was surprised by them. Some are are from a time where infants were not named until they were much older - maybe as much as two years. One odd thing I'm beginning to see is glow in the dark angels and crosses being added to the plots. I haven't figured out what I think about that.

Life Looms Large said...

Totally off topic for this blog post, but I just wanted to pop over and say thanks for your excellent clasped weft idea for my scarf! I have just the yarn for it!!! Can't wait to give it a try!

Sue