Lake Michigan Shore |
In the 1800s Johnny (Chapman) Appleseed had a purpose when
he went across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania planting apple trees but
I have no clue what my purpose was in dividing Don’s remains between so many
places. Maybe I really believe that out of the ashes new life grows and I wanted
be sure at least one of the places I deposited them will remain undisturbed
until that new life comes forth. (It’s never been my style to put all my eggs
in one basket.) Or maybe I just like the idea that Don gets a choice of places
to haunt until his soul gets tired of hanging around earth. And then
there is the strong possibility that I just didn’t like the idea of having to
go to a cemetery to remember Don on days when we’re supposed to honor the
dead.
It’s a popular myth that Johnny Appleseed randomly planted
trees in his travels as a missionary but the fact is he actually planted
nurseries and built fences around them. Back in his days on earth, there was a law
in the Midwest that required people who claimed frontier land to plant orchards
to hold on to their claims and that made the land around Johnny Appleseed’s little
nurseries popular plots to homestead because bargain priced nursery stock was close
at hand. When he died his sister inherited 1,200 acres of his apple saplings,
and to this day several locations claim Johnny’s gravesite. I can see how my
decision to strew Don’s ashes over two counties could cause confusion over
Don’s final resting place so maybe someday Johnny and Don will have a where-is-he
type dispute in common.
The day I spread the ashes at Lake Michigan
with my oldest niece and her husband in tow it was a beautiful, sunny day. We went to Don’s
favorite antique mall, had lunch where we could watch boats going by and, of
course, we drove down to the beach. From there, we walked a short distance down
the shoreline where we left the ashes---some in the water and some at the top
of a sand dune that is near where the burnt remains of a small town is buried
underneath the sand. Mother Nature took what the fire didn’t and now Mother
Nature will have her way with part of Don. Don loved the folklore of that old ghost
town and he had read everything ever written on the subject. I still have $3 Banknote issued in 1837 from the bank in that ghost town---Singapore, Michigan.
All of Don’s ashes have been spread now but I had a hard
time stopping myself from dividing them even more. On the way home from Lake
Michigan I was trying to figure out why it was so hard to bring an end to my
Johnny Appleseed-like mission. Did I do the right or wrong thing leaving Don in
so many places? Imagine my surprise when just after that question entered my
thoughts I got a sign that I took as a seal of approval. As I turned a corner a rainbow, big and bright
appeared in the sky and at the same time Tim McGraw was on
the radio singing the song, Please
Remember Me. ©
"Remember me when you're out walkin'
When the snow falls high outside your door
Late at night when you're not sleepin'
And moonlight falls across your floor….
When the snow falls high outside your door
Late at night when you're not sleepin'
And moonlight falls across your floor….
Whatever you did was right for you and Don. I have left my husbands ashes in the bag next to the bag the dog's ashes are in and mine will be there someday too. For my nephew and his family to spread on our place which they inherit and love.
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