explore everywhere

While I was looking for things to check out on my little day trip to Columbus I stumbled across Brown Pet Cemetery. I have been to countless cemeteries over the years, like a lot a lot a lot. I blog about them so often that they’ve even earned their own tag here on the blog. I’ve never been to one that was the final resting place for people’s pets though. I wasn’t sure what to expect (yes, I did. I knew that I’d cry!) but felt compelled to check it out! What can I say, I was curious…

Brown Pet Cemetery is located in Columbus, Ohio, right across the street from the airport. Certainly not the most peaceful of resting places but an absolute beauty! Some of the oldest headstones I spotted date back to the 1920’s. Some are handmade, and others are more elaborate than some I’ve seen for humans. A surprising number of the headstones even had photos! The front of the cemetery seems to be fairly well maintained. The back half of the cemetery is nestled in the woods so it was understandable to see that a handful of headstones that have been damaged by fallen trees. It also appeared that some were slowly falling down the hill little by little each year.

The majority of the deceased seemed to be dogs, followed by cats but I also saw a headstone for a bird! Online, while researching this cemetery, I found a photo of a headstone for two ducks but I somehow missed that while I was there. Probably because my eyes were all blurry from crying!

So what was it like? Oh, I just sobbed… the whole time. Like red faced, snot nosed, runny make up SOBBING. Every time I’d start to regain my composure I’d find a headstone with an inscription that got me going all over again. Jeff texted me while I was there to say something like “Hope you’re having a nice day!” When I told him where I was his response was “What are you doing there?! Why!? That’s so sad!” While it was incredibly sad, it was overwhelmingly beautiful. Obviously I wept for their owner’s loss but half the tears came from a place of great appreciation for the friendships we form with animals. It makes my heart swell to think about those bonds. Seriously, I sometimes get teary eyed when I see strangers sharing a special moment with their pet. Basically, when it comes to animals, I’m a huge blubbering fool.

It’s so lovely to think what an impact these animals made on their owners lives that they decided to get them such beautiful headstones when they passed. Some of the headstones with photos were so old! It’s crazy to think about a time when photography wasn’t even a fraction as popular or accessible that someone was like “Yeah, I really love this cat. I’m going to need to get some glamour shots done of her.”

I hesitated to share this post because it is sad and that’s not really the type of content I share on The Dainty Squid. Jeff even said “I’m not going to read that post, it’ll be too sad!” As much as I cried seeing this in person, and even though I got choked up a few times wiring it, like I said above, it really does warm my heart that people loved these animals so much! I hope you guys out there reading can see the beauty in it too.
xoxo

I’m trying hard to get back into the habit of taking weekly drives to fun destinations. It’s a lot harder to find new places now that I’ve been doing this for a while so I’m having to dig deeper and most of the time, drive a lot further. Last week I wanted to find a new cemetery to check out so I did some browsing around Find A Grave and ended up discovering Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus is a little bit of a drive for me, just over two hours, but the cemetery looked promising.

Greenlawn Cemetery was founded in 1848 and covers over 360 acres. It’s the final resting place for over 150,000 people. It’s probably in the top five largest cemeteries I’ve visited. It’s also probably the most confusing. Most cemeteries have a few main roads throughout, and even if they’re large you never really seem to get lost. Greenlawn, on the other hand, was almost like a maze. I ended up in the same few spots multiple times while trying to navigate my way around. I’m certainly not complaining, it made for a fun day!

A lot of cemeteries have a headstone that kind of becomes their most popular “attraction”. Cleveland’s Lake View Cemetery has the Haserot Angel, Chestnut Grove Cemetery in Ashtabula has the train disaster monument, and Greenlawn has George Blount. Seen directly above, below, and at the very beginning of this post. Georgie, as he is lovingly referred to, was born on Sept. 26, 1867, the only son of Eli and Sarah Blount. Mr. Blount owned the American House Hotel, where George slid down a banister and crashed into a heavy iron stove hearth. He died a week later. All these years later, locals still take care of Georgie. His headstone is one of the most visited in the cemetery, and apparently always decorated. When I visited the ground surrounding his headstone was covered in small trinkets and toys, and his hands were full of pennies. In the winter it’s a regular occurrence for him to be “decorated” with a hat and scarf (which can actually damage a headstone since they hold in moisture)

Little Georgie’s grand headstone was beautiful, no doubt, but I think my favorite of the day still has to go to Tommy with that incredible bed monument. He was only eight months old so the bed isn’t very large but my goodness, it’s detailed. I took so many close up photos trying to capture all the details, including the ruffles on the pillow, and tassels on the mattress. The artistry that goes into some of these headstones really just blows my mind.

Aside from these two, there was still tons to see! A cemetery this size is no doubt packed with amazing things. I’m sure there is so much I missed, especially since there was a section I was avoiding all together due to funeral proceedings. I did manage to find tons and tons of symbolism though. Here are few of my favorites featured in this post, see if you can spot them for yourself…

century plant – represents immortality; everlasting life.
clasped hands – farewell to Earthly existence and God’s welcome in heaven.
hand with heart – charity, used by both Odd Fellows & Masons.
lamb – innocence, often found on the gravestones of children.
willow tree – perpetual sadness or mourning

My final thoughts on Greenlawn? Definitely worth the drive!
xoxo