Would you believe it? Mark and I bought our cemetery plots just two months before the dreadful tumor showed up! Even better – this was my birthday present! Really! When I called to make burial arrangements, the man definitely remembered us as the couple who had the unusual birthday gift and was so shocked to hear that Mark was gone. (Join the club.)

There have been multiple inquiries, “Why Spring City?”

The simple answer is that this little town was settled by my ancestors, the Allreds and others. It is the closest thing we have to a heritage site. Mark and I made our choice many years ago and this played into our decision to move to Utah – just in case one of us died, the other could be somewhat near.

The original family cabin is still standing. My grandmother was raised here and though she joined my grandfather to raise their family in California, he loved the little town also. As a child whenever we happened to be in Utah we would go out of our way to visit Spring City. I remember that a creek used to run past the cabin. It had large rocks and we loved to play in it. Yes, there is a spring and we loved to drink from it. We still fill water bottles/containers whenever we can. My dad grew up in Los Angeles but spent many happy summers here. We used to love to hear his stories of the city kids terrorizing the place, but they loved being there.

Grandma was buried here when I was a junior in high school. During her chilly December graveside service an eagle flew low over the gathering. Grandpa said that this was a good omen. He joined her a few years later and this time Mark attended with me – we were both in college and almost engaged. I liked having him there with me. After Grandma passed away, my dad would take his father to Utah and they would stay in Spring City where Grandpa owned a piece of property with a little trailer. They used to pick up doughnuts in a neighboring town and then enjoy eating them together as they reminisced at the cemetery. Maybe they didn’t actually eat them there – but when I learned of this tradition I began to take my own children to get the same doughnuts and we would eat them in the shade at the cemetery. It is a like a quiet, peaceful little garden and at some point we decided this would be a great location for a final resting place.

This cemetery is full of my relatives. A few years ago we happened to have most (or all?) of our family at home during Memorial Day. Everyone chose the name of an ancestor and they found out all that they could about their life. Later we drove to Spring City and visited each grave while the family shared what they had learned. Mark and I tried to be buried close to several of these ancestors. An old pioneer cemetery, however, will show space on their plot map that isn’t actually available. It was mapped out before burial vaults were required and GPS was not available. Three different choices had to be checked out and each time further investigation proved them to be unusable. This was fine because our fourth choice was near my grandparents where there appeared to be plenty of space.

My grandma’s favorite plant was sagebrush and there is an abundance in the area. I think she really missed it when she moved away. When we visit we like to find a few sprigs to place on her headstone. You know – I always feel like my love for flowers came through my dad from Grandma. Her yard was always so colorful! Even her large vegetable garden was surrounded by flowers. Yet the simple sage is what she most enjoyed because to her, it meant home and home was Spring City.

I say that there appeared to be space… but while planning services for Mark I was surprised at an urgent phone call from Spring City. They had discovered an existing burial – over 100 years old. The family was contacted and they did not want the remains to be disturbed… and neither did I! We found two other plots in a location that I think I prefer – especially because my sister had followed suit and purchased two plots after my birthday… our new location is just as close to my grandparents and even closer to Lori and Ryan. (It doesn’t matter in the long run… but it kind of feels like it does.)

Lesson learned? Make the decision of where you would like to be buried. There are a lot of things to think about. I was so grateful that we had not only made our choice, but also purchased the burial plots. There were so many decisions to be made and so many expenses to deal with – at a time when I could scarcely think straight. I am still not thinking straight, but I absolutely love that we made this decision together. I love everything that we did together!