Always have. When I was a little kid, my parents would take me along to help decorate our families gravesites. They really didn't let me help much, so I spent most of the time wandering around, reading headstones and wondering how they died. Back then no one worried about perverts kidnapping their kids so I had free range of the cemeteries, some two or three blocks long. From the very old, unreadable limestone headstones to the beautiful massive granite life story tributes, I loved them all. Now, as an adult, my fascination continues.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not a morbid person. I am, however, an extremely curious person who finds the whole life/death experience a pretty interesting subject.
For instance, the whole tradition of burying your loved ones in cemeteries, next to strangers. I know that there are now laws about how and where people can be buried, but cemeteries go way, way, back. Way before laws. Even before Christ, people were buried in areas set aside for just that purpose. In some cases, I have heard that the areas were considered sacred so people wanted to be buried there, so as to be closer to their God or heaven. But what about all the other areas? A somewhat modern example - Boothill cemetery in Arizona. In a small town, surrounded by thousands of acres of empty land, people would deliver their deceased family members or friends to this cemetery and others like it. Why not a private place? Why not pick a spot in a beautiful meadow next to a bubbling brook or even their backyard? Some did, but why not the majority?
Oh, to have a time machine. Buts that's another story.
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