Photo Series: A Child’s Resting Place

A Child’s Resting Place

On a recent Memorial Day visit to a cemetery in Stigler, Oklahoma, I spotted the smallest and most decorated grave site of all the graves in the area. This memorial, obviously made for an infant, was inscribed with only one date – April 15, 1967.

This meant that this infant son was born and died on the same date. He must have only spent a few hours on this Earth. Had he lived, my grandmother would have been his 3rd grade teacher in Stigler.

The marble memorial was filled with toys in remembrance of this little boy and appears to have been kept up over the years. Some of the toys appeared to date from around the child’s burial date in 1967.

So, if you think about it, there were toys placed at this memorial that have survived 45 years and seen the seasons change 181 times. It’s been a long time since he’s been gone, but he’s still remembered.

All Photographs ©2012 Eric W. Hatheway All Rights Reserved