A week or so ago, there was a discussion about having difficulties at the cemeteries. I have to tell you about an experience I had with a cemetery in Fresno. A year ago I went to Calvary Cemetery in Fresno to visit the graves of my grandparents, who had died in the 30's. They were no where to be found. I knew the spot exactly, but it was nothing but a very large, mowed and grassy area. When I was a child the graves were in an elevated plot and I remember climbing up two stone steps with the family name on it. This was right along the roadway. When I returned, there was no roadway or steps anywhere. The "cemetery" had filled the roadway with graves and brought the level up over the top of the steps. The only way I knew this had happened was that there was an enormous white angel with her arms open wide, right next to my family. That was the key, fortunately. The cemetery office told me they were in this area, but would not explain what had happened. On Dec. 23, 2001, my cousins and I, joined by our husbands and shovels, actually went DIGGING. It was a rather unusual experience, in the misty December fog of Fresno, to be in a cemetery looking for grave stones. One of my cousins has connections with the church and she said, "Just leave this to me." She had been given a probe by one of the caretakers. We found two stones of another family, which we brought up and reset on the surface, and then we discovered the two steps. That was really a overwhelming feeling to see the steps being uncovered with the family name "Cullen" on them. But.......we were unable to find my grandparents and great-grandparents. The day was so cold and drizzily that we had to give up. I returned to San Diego and persisted calling the cemetery. Finally, they just got feed up with hearing my name. They had the caretakers go out and find three of the graves and bring the stones to the surface. Just two weeks ago I was in Fresno for a brief time and we stopped by Calvary. I was so pleased to find my grandparents' stone and also, one of a great-uncle are now where they can be seen. There are still three more, including my great-grandparents, that I have to work on with the cemetery. They tell me that they are not in the plot, but all the records show it, even their records. It just depends on the person your talking to at the time. So far the people at St. Peter's Cemetery (the one in charge of Calvary) are taking care of this, but it hasn't been easy for me. Now.....the most ironic thing about this is that the cousins that helped me "dig" are not even related to that side of my family. They are from my maternal side. Fortunately, I'm getting them involved in searching for relatives now. After our digging, we all went to visit the graves of each of our parents in four different cemeteries. This was a family of "fighting Irish" and many didn't get on too well, when together. This day turned out to be a healing milestone in our lives, bringing all the kids together, that had never had a problem with each other, to the gravesites of our parents, that couldn't keep the peace. We're the older generation now and hopefully, we will follow the Road of Tranquility. I think the next time I get to Fresno and plan a trip to Calvary, I'll take the box of See's like a member of the list had suggested. Rayene in San Diego

Dear Group, I was very touched by Rayene's story and thought it would make a nice addition to the rootsweb newsletter that comes out every week. She also has a very nice verse that she shared with me and I'm wondering if anyone here knows how to submit something like this to Rootsweb. Marie -----Original Message----- From: Rayene [mailto:rayene@san.rr.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2002 3:37 PM To: CALOSANG-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [CALosAngeles] Cemetery Obstacles That We Met A week or so ago, there was a discussion about having difficulties at the cemeteries. I have to tell you about an experience I had with a cemetery in Fresno. A year ago I went to Calvary Cemetery in Fresno to visit the graves of my grandparents, who had died in the 30's. They were no where to be found. I knew the spot exactly, but it was nothing but a very large, mowed and grassy area. When I was a child the graves were in an elevated plot and I remember climbing up two stone steps with the family name on it. This was right along the roadway. When I returned, there was no roadway or steps anywhere. The "cemetery" had filled the roadway with graves and brought the level up over the top of the steps. The only way I knew this had happened was that there was an enormous white angel with her arms open wide, right next to my family. That was the key, fortunately. The cemetery office told me they were in this area, but would not explain what had happened. On Dec. 23, 2001, my cousins and I, joined by our husbands and shovels, actually went DIGGING. It was a rather unusual experience, in the misty December fog of Fresno, to be in a cemetery looking for grave stones. One of my cousins has connections with the church and she said, "Just leave this to me." She had been given a probe by one of the caretakers. We found two stones of another family, which we brought up and reset on the surface, and then we discovered the two steps. That was really a overwhelming feeling to see the steps being uncovered with the family name "Cullen" on them. But.......we were unable to find my grandparents and great-grandparents. The day was so cold and drizzily that we had to give up. I returned to San Diego and persisted calling the cemetery. Finally, they just got feed up with hearing my name. They had the caretakers go out and find three of the graves and bring the stones to the surface. Just two weeks ago I was in Fresno for a brief time and we stopped by Calvary. I was so pleased to find my grandparents' stone and also, one of a great-uncle are now where they can be seen. There are still three more, including my great-grandparents, that I have to work on with the cemetery. They tell me that they are not in the plot, but all the records show it, even their records. It just depends on the person your talking to at the time. So far the people at St. Peter's Cemetery (the one in charge of Calvary) are taking care of this, but it hasn't been easy for me. Now.....the most ironic thing about this is that the cousins that helped me "dig" are not even related to that side of my family. They are from my maternal side. Fortunately, I'm getting them involved in searching for relatives now. After our digging, we all went to visit the graves of each of our parents in four different cemeteries. This was a family of "fighting Irish" and many didn't get on too well, when together. This day turned out to be a healing milestone in our lives, bringing all the kids together, that had never had a problem with each other, to the gravesites of our parents, that couldn't keep the peace. We're the older generation now and hopefully, we will follow the Road of Tranquility. I think the next time I get to Fresno and plan a trip to Calvary, I'll take the box of See's like a member of the list had suggested. Rayene in San Diego

Nice of you to share your story. Persistace sometimes can win out. I went four times to look for a second wife of my grandfrather's and still could not locate it. Well, on that particular day we had nothing but troubles finding headstones of family members in the same cemetery. It turns out that the rules they had for counting out the headstones in one area was not so for another. Besides Inglewood is a very large cemetery. Our story had a very happy ending, tho. The caretakers sent out a helper to assist us and he had troubles at first. He knew the headstone was there,so we took photos of him digging to the headstone. Unfortunately Wanda's headstone was next to a tree and had sunk downward. She has a clean headstone now and we feel much better for it. Deborah ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rayene" <rayene@san.rr.com> To: <CALOSANG-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2002 3:36 PM Subject: [CALosAngeles] Cemetery Obstacles That We Met > A week or so ago, there was a discussion about having difficulties at the > cemeteries. I have to tell you about an experience I had with a cemetery in > Fresno. > > > A year ago I went to Calvary Cemetery in Fresno to visit the graves of my > grandparents, who had died in the 30's. They were no where to be found. I > knew the spot exactly, but it was nothing but a very large, mowed and > grassy area. When I was a child the graves were in an elevated plot and I > remember climbing up two stone steps with the family name on it. This was > right along the roadway. When I returned, there was no roadway or steps > anywhere. The "cemetery" had filled the roadway with graves and brought the > level up over the top of the steps. The only way I knew this had happened > was that there was an enormous white angel with her arms open wide, right > next to my family. That was the key, fortunately. The cemetery office told > me they were in this area, but would not explain what had happened. > > On Dec. 23, 2001, my cousins and I, joined by our husbands and shovels, > actually went DIGGING. It was a rather unusual experience, in the misty > December fog of Fresno, to be in a cemetery looking for grave stones. One > of my cousins > has connections with the church and she said, "Just leave this to me." She > had been given a probe by one of the caretakers. We found two stones of > another family, which we brought up and reset on the surface, and then we > discovered the two steps. That was really a overwhelming feeling to see the > steps being uncovered with the family name "Cullen" on them. But.......we > were unable to find my grandparents and great-grandparents. The day was so > cold and drizzily that we had to give up. I returned to San Diego and > persisted calling the cemetery. Finally, they just got feed up with hearing > my name. They had the caretakers go out and find three of the graves and > bring the stones to the surface. > > Just two weeks ago I was in Fresno for a brief time and we stopped by > Calvary. I was so pleased to find my grandparents' stone and also, one of a > great-uncle are now where they can be seen. There are still three more, > including my great-grandparents, that I have to work on with the cemetery. > They tell me that they are not in the plot, but all the records show it, > even their records. It just depends on the person your talking to at the > time. So far the people at St. Peter's Cemetery (the one in charge of > Calvary) are taking care of this, but it hasn't been easy for me. > > Now.....the most ironic thing about this is that the cousins that helped me > "dig" are not even related to that side of my family. They are from my > maternal side. Fortunately, I'm getting them involved in searching for > relatives now. After our digging, we all went to visit the graves of each > of our parents in four different cemeteries. This was a family of "fighting > Irish" and many didn't get on too well, when together. This day turned out > to be a healing milestone in our lives, bringing all the kids together, that > had never had a problem with each other, to the gravesites of our parents, > that couldn't keep the peace. We're the older generation now and hopefully, > we will follow the Road of Tranquility. > > I think the next time I get to Fresno and plan a trip to Calvary, I'll take > the box of See's like a member of the list had suggested. > > Rayene in San Diego > > > > >