I always liked this quotation attributed to W.C. Fields: "Who stole the cork out of my lunch?" Fits him to a "T", doesn't it? Dorie ----- Original Message ----- From: ROY SCHMIDT <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, December 01, 2000 10:35 AM Subject: Re: [GERMAN-LIFE] Flowers / Decoration Day > Mind if I inject a little humor? > > Years ago, W. C. Fields bought a plot in Forest Lawn Cemetery. For > years after, he was in a constant battle with cemetery management. He > would plant tomatoes , in the plot, and they would make him take them > out. He would argue that he bought the plot, but it was to no avail. > > This is true. The story of his epitaph reading, "On the whole, I > would rather be here than in Philadelphia, " is false. > > Roy Schmidt > > >>> <[email protected]> 11/30/00 04:01PM >>> > I walked through a few cemeteries while visiting Germany during the > summer > months. I was astonished to see what Katharina described as little > flower > gardens, and many people pruning, weeding & watering them. They were > > absolutely beautiful. > > I guess the closest thing Americans might come to it is our old > fashioned > decoration day. Both of my mother's parents' people have family > cemeteries > that are still maintained in North Carolina, and they have an annual > > decoration day. On that day, the family members, who still live near > by, > gather to rake the winter's debris, clean the stones and put new, but > > unfortunately, plastic flowers across the plots. I wonder if this is > a > result of the original decoration day for the union soldiers > following the > Civil War - oops, I digress. > > I've often that of developing a garden plot for Grandfather's grave > in that > family cemetery, much like the ones I saw in his native country. The > family > would probably think nutty! > > Ginny