Will We Need A Tombstone?

In the small cemetery, beneath the snow, lies my little brother and my Father’s bodies. My brother, taken from heroin ten years ago, lying in a casket next to my Father, who died from brain cancer two years later. 

Unfortunately, they never received tombstones. Tablets of stone acting as placeholders describing who they were and when they lived. Nothing is pointing to their bodies, helping us to know where they are and the memories they left behind.

The truth is that we don’t need tombstones. We don’t need stone tablets helping us understand because the truth is written on our hearts. The truth of their lives is ever-present, living inside us day after day. The memories, their names, and dates are truths etched inside us that far outweigh any tablet of stone.

So we live our lives, not worried about the proof that others can see. We don’t worry about the visible disclaimers, needing to validate who we are and what we’ve done. Instead, we live by the prompts of the spirit. We live by following our hearts that are forging life and engraving epitaphs on others. And then we find, no tombstone is required.