New Deal - Cemetery

When I was growing up our house was on the same street as the towns Cemetery. Rosedale Cemetery a dignified garden of stones and artificial flowers arranged among old cedars and walnut trees. The cemetery was one of the gifts left to the city by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) or the Works Progress Act (WPA), who can remember? Now that I think of it I was never afraid of living a couple of doors down from the cemetery. That said, I don’t remember ever going over there at night either, and maybe that wasn't out of fear as much as out of respect.

As parts of Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal," the CCC and the WPA were a work relief program specifically for men between the ages of 18 and 33. This program existed from 1933 until 1942 due to the lack of jobs for men of this age during the Great Depression. I have heard of many stories about the CCC and the WPA's Camps coming to Dawson Springs bringing men that would work to repair and replace streets, build the state park, the cemetery and other landmarks of my small hometown.

Rosedale cemetery is surrounded by a rock wall and rock retaining walls made from native stone and now seems like a sea of granite divided by concrete paths. Monuments of all shapes and sizes dot the terrain with names to be read silently noting the presence of he or she or both. I use to ride my bike over there and many people walked the paths for exercise - my Mother included. I, as almost everyone in town have family members buried there and I remember as a child often seeing widow creeping through those paths in long cars, somberly checking on the resting place of a husband, a father and mother, a child or even a friend. My own grandmother was one of those diligent ladies. An emblem of our temporary existence right down the street.

The CCC built those walls along with a grounds keepers work shop, a crypt, a pavilion and a grand arch to mark the entrance. What a depressing job I think now - building a cemetery - but these things must be done too. I wonder if those young men knew the importance of this small southern town's cemetery…and if the events that would take place there couldn't possibly resonate? The rainy days and green tents covering green chairs and Astroturf? There is no way that they could have really known the important moments that would go down there.

Driving into Dawson Springs from the Western Kentucky Parkway, those that come and go there drive past Rosedale Cemetery, where an American flag waves day and night. Where the names of those that founded, built and lived in my hometown now lie and even though this might seem crazy, Rosedale Cemetery is a peaceful place. A dignified place to rest for the ages under stones that have not the space to list all the things done in one's life and I suppose that is the point. Epitaphs should exist in the minds that are touched and not etched on any stone. I don't know why this came to mind today…maybe it is the dreary weather that has been lingering. Who knows?

Regardless, why not? Who says I can't write about cemeteries - I'm still not scared of them.