Thankful Thursday

     Like most of the graves at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Macedon, New York, John Crotty's was a mess.  The brother of my third-great-grandmother Honora Crotty Power from County Waterford, John was buried near the top of St. Patrick's with his wife Ellen Mullet and the Wallace's, they being Ellen's sister and her husband.  I say top because the cemetery lies on a steep hill.  One of my first blogs was about St. Patrick's woeful state of disrepair and it's precarious location.  My son and I tidied up what we could but it was a job for more than two people.  This required a small army...one armed with chainsaws and earth movers.  Large branches and ancient trees  were falling upon the gravestones while their massive roots snaked through the cemetery upending others.  It was truly a sad state of affairs.

Before photo.  Crotty grave on the left.

     
     Last week I made the first trip of the year to check on Uncle John and Aunt Ellen, planning to pull the weeds that were constantly encroaching on their resting place and pick up whatever branches had fallen over the winter.  The rainy spring had delayed my visit, and I was dreading what I might find.  I began to climb the hill but stopped in confusion, their graves were in this direction, but where were they? Where were the trees?  Nothing looked the same, was it  possible I had forgotten the location of their graves?  No I had not--they had been cleaned!  The copse of decaying trees surrounding the stones that I had always wanted to take a saw to had been removed and the lower growing foliage had been mowed.

   

After

   

  I don't know who or when, but somehow their burial place had been beautifully restored.  Perhaps a Scout Troop or other civic organization?  I have no idea, but I'm so grateful to whoever it was.