It all began innocently enough. My mom asked us to meet her for lunch but first, she needed to tidy up my grandparents' grave site and water the flowers hanging there. Since the cemetery is such a beautiful location, we decided to picnic in the lovely grassy area nearby. Oliver and Emily helped water the flowers and didn't mind dripping a little on themselves as it was a scorcher of a day. Of course, our conversation held memories of my precious Mama and Grampie--memories that brought happiness, in spite of the missing. However, we found more joy than we expected as we chatted in the heat that day.
Oliver had noticed that someone had set up a sprinkler over their family grave stones and we thought that was clever since we'd just traveled with jugs of water from the tap several sites away. He and Emily were sweating from running with the dog and he asked if they could dip their toes in it. No one was around to ask and we figured there was no disrespect in a little cooling off. "Just don't step on the graves themselves--please walk around them," I warned.
Mom and I were deep in conversation, when we suddenly began to hear squeals of delight and turned toward the sight of Oliver leaping through the sprinkler in his bathing suit! For a moment I wondered how on earth he'd even brought it, but remembered we had the suit in the truck from an earlier swimming visit at a friend's the day before. Somehow, in a minute or two, he'd gotten changed and plunged into that oscillating water! We laughed so hard at that boy! Thankfully, he danced and leaped through the sites and not on them. Bravely, Emily finally joined him and then, my mom :)
Getting back into that truck dripping cool water instead of sticky sweat meant I drove the half an hour home with happy children. I took photos because my camera is usually with me and I remember things best visually. And this? I needed to lock this one tight in my heart's file of joyful moments. It was a reminder that although there may be sadness in the cemetery for a time, a believer truly finds their hope in the fact that their loved ones are with Jesus and will be met again one day. And for that? Fountains of glee spilling all over those grave stones--especially the one marked: "We are not here, we are with our Saviour."
