Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA – second visit
November 9, 2014 – our second visit to Laurel Hill Cemetery, again with my husband, daughter and my niece. No crazy wind this time – a beautiful day! Although I also call a dreary foggy, misty day, a beautiful day, too – especially out with my camera. This time we started on the far side of the cemetery – the other side of West Hunting Park Avenue – just a very small section did I explore along the edge of Fairmont Park, in about an hour and a halfs time. We parked under the gaze of the four angels in a row, standing on their pedestals. This area, as the entire cemetery, holds uniqueness around every corner. Nothing looks the same or repetitive as you see in many modern age cemeteries. Angels high on pedestals, and some on much shorter ones, where you can look into their eyes and feel their sadness or their gazes of hope. One of my favorites is of a childlike angel, high on a pedestal, kneeling on one knee in prayer, gazing up at the sky - the stone below being so worn from the elements, I hope maybe some trickery in Photoshop can help me decipher its memories. In my wandering I came upon a most unique tomb/sarcophagi, gothic in style, I believe – hey, I have a lot of research and studying to do to master this. Inside the columns and decorative arches on one end read a plaque: 'A tribute – To the memory of Sarah Ann, the lamented wife of George L. Harrison. Who "fell asleep" on Sunday, May 12, 1850, aged 35 years.' So young! In front of this plaque laid a sleeping lamb. On the other end read: 'A sunbeam not lost in darkness, but returned to its sphere. In thy light, shall we see light.' Eternal love this husband holds for his departed wife. After a drive exploring and a picnic lunch under the most brilliantly colored tree in the entire cemetery, we moved on to explore Millionaires Row and it's vast and magnificent mausoleums. Peering inside, some entirely entombed, you are peering into darkness, and some hold magnificent works of stained glass. From here I wandered back out into the open area where I found more works of art of engravings and statuaries. I could go on, but want my photos to tell more of my journeys here – oh yes, we will be back. The home of our country's independence holds so much history. There will be other Philadelphia cemeteries to explore. The above photo is of the Ford Mausoleum found on "Millionaires Row". I will be posting a gallery of photos of Laurel Hill very soon.