L'viv - Part Ten - A Walk in a Cemetary

Mel and I walked up to an old cemetery Tuesday, one that has been turned into a 'museum' and yet people are still being buried there, as near ago as earlier this year at least. It was very beautiful. It was very peaceful. It was very calming and relaxing to my soul.

I've written before about how fast I feel time is slipping away. Oh so very quickly. I am reminded of this fact every time I read an historical novel, or read in my Bible, or watch a special on television about some historical event or archaeological happening. I am reminded every time someone I know dies.

This week one of the elderly women in our church died. Alla Polycarpovna had been ill for many years with diabetes. She had barely had any treatment and what little medication she (or her loved ones) could buy was not always what it was supposed to be. Her insulin may or may not have been insulin, the pills may or may not have been what they were supposed to be. At her death, Alla had been housebound for a few years. Blind, legs and feet in constant pain, suffering. Her older sister, Lydia, cared for her as much as she could. Alla lived with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson, yet Lydia did most of her care. This will be the most difficult for Lydia as she was very close to Alla. Wednesday, as we understand, was her funeral. We are not there. I am saddened by that.

So, yesterday Mel and I walked up to a cemetery on a hill not too far from our flat, maybe two miles away. We paid our entrance fee and then walked over to the sign that had the plan for where everything/one was at. There were 78 different sections we could explore, but since everything was written in Ukrainian and Polish, neither of which do we understand very well, we just decided to head off and see what we would find. This is one of the first graves/memorials we saw (very 'Soviet Baroque' in style)(see Ivan Franko for more information):

There was a canopy over this grave, with cleaning and repair work being done. Therefore, I couldn't get a photo of the whole top of the monument. It was very Catholic/Orthodox in style, though. My first thought - look at that dude's nose! It must have been so remarkable that they carved it true to life on his monument. (Not very respectful, huh? Ha!)

This one reminds me of our dog who died just before we came to Ukraine.

This monument was probably my favorite one. I hope he was truly a nice man and that his family remembers him with deep loving memories, for more than one generation.

And this one, this Ukrainian woman, this one I dedicate today to Alla. I don't know who is really buried here, but I thought of Alla when I saw it.