Something Worth Writing...

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing.”

While I like to say I stay busy working on a variety of projects, I also waste a lot of time.  Cable TV is not my friend. I can sit for more time that I care to admit watching too much of a Criminal Minds marathon or one of the more entertaining shows on the USA network.

After living in Louisville, Kentucky for nine years, I just discovered that Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery. The cemetery is the final resting place for many of Louisville and Kentucky’s more notable residents. So, I set off to find Colonel  Sanders’ grave. 

Cave Hill Cemetery is a massive garden-style, park-like cemetery with hills and valleys dotted with thousands of statues, tombstones and markers, many with entertaining descriptions, stories and messages.  More than 120,000 people are buried there and it’d be quite a challenge to find a single grave if you didn’t know where to look.  Fortunately, if you find the right entrance, a yellow line in the middle of the road will lead you straight to the burial site of Harland Sanders and his wife Claudia.  His daughter Margaret is beside him, his grandson beside her.

I got out of my car, took photos of the gravesite and watched as a van load of people got out and took turns posing for pictures with a bust of Harland Sanders. Then, I started looking at other statues and tombstones, reading the dates and digesting the stories, some with more details than others.  

There was a statute of two little boys that drew my attention.  The bigger boy was carrying the younger one on his shoulders.  Nearby were two grave markers telling of a child who died at the age of two, his  brother who died at the age of 21. What a tragic loss for a family, losing two sons who died so young.

 I stopped at another statue of a man with a robe draped over a tombstone, his arm extended outward as if welcoming you to a performance of some kind. An online search later described Harry Leon Collins as a WWII hero who performed magic with Bob Crosby’s shows for the troops. Collins later went on to work on promotional campaigns for Frito-Lay doing TV commercials, performing magic tricks and making appearances on the company’s behalf around the country at supermarkets, fairs, conventions, etc., for more than four decades.

For the next hour I drove, stopping periodically to get out and read about the many amazing lives, some lost at a young age, and the tribute from the people who loved them. What a warm and inspiring place, so many people and things to write about, such a spark to one’s emotions and imagination.  It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon giving me many things to write about.

Thank you, Benjamin Franklin. The next time I have a couple of hours to spare, I’ll look for an opportunity, however small, to get out in my own city, and discover something “worth writing.” Who knows what I might find?