Saturday, June 11, 2011

This gravestone had me in tears.

After posting more than 700 pictures on FindAGrave, you'd think I'd be used to cemetery things. But this gravestone for twins, photographed yesterday, really got to me.

Born in 1849, Charles Trowbridge Pierson and his twin sister, Mary Ann.....the boy dying at age 7 weeks, and then his sister one month later. One hundred and fifty-plus years later, we grieve with their parents.

3 comments:

Dona said...

I cannot imagine what life was like back when it was not uncommon to lose one or more children in their first few years.

Susan said...

I can't either. I've seen it over and over on the gravestones I've photographed, but it's still incomprehensible. A friend told me one of her ancestors didn't name the babies until they had passed their second birthday.

Susan said...

I meant to add that I've heard the theory that parents were more distant from their children back then, as a self-protective measure, but that doesn't take into account simple biology and maternal (and, it is hoped, paternal) instinct.