During my visit to Graceland Cemetery this weekend -- as a reminder, is located right smack in the middle of northside Chicago -- I was wandering through when I spotted this sight ahead, tucked away among the changing small trees and grasses.
Naturally, I went closer to investigate.
The stone reads, "In Memory of our Beautiful and Beloved Son Christopher." It's a family plot; there are two footstones below, with room for one more. The middle one is for Dr. Christopher Manuel, who died at the age of 39 in 2005. The second one must be his mother (I'm guessing from the birthdates listed) who died this August 2007.
From what I've been able to discern on the web, this memorial was erected in late 2006. It's one of most unusual I've ever seen, and definitely sad and haunting. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it, and thinking about how loving this family must have been, and how devastated they clearly were by his death. All graves are sad in their own ways, but this one's grief seemed especially piercing to me. Maybe it's the personal and yet theatrical style of headstone, or the way it's hidden away in the cemetery but when you're close enough you can see there's nothing hidden at all.
The verse is from an old song, "For All We Know", which has been recorded by dozens of artists over the years.
I then left Christopher.
And so he sits, facing the small still pond, playing his silent flute for anyone who comes close enough to find him again.
