Melissa is planning her memorial monument and wants it to reflect who she is and leave a positive message. She decides on a fountain made of blue marble with a crescent moon and angels on top. The fountain will be decorated with symbols of her life including flowers, peace signs, stars, animals, music, nursing, and hands holding to represent relationships. It will also feature symbols of her faith like a cross and ivy. Quotes and images will be included to help others connect with her. She wants to be buried near nature, like a waterfall, surrounded by family and friends, with a simple monument focusing on the beauty in her life and offering peace to others.
2. Where do I begin? When trying to decide what to do for my memorial monument I was somewhat at a loss in the beginning because it was in a way scary to imagine it but, when I took a step back and looked at it as an artistic way of leaving a simple reminder of who I am and what I want to leave behind it became much easier. Doing this was in a way like decorating a MySpace page. It is a way to show who you are without someone ever meeting you. I decided take what I learned from my time in Spring Grove and apply it to my life, my personality and the kind of message I would want to leave behind. I decided to put my own spin on it, so that when looking at it one was left with a happy feeling rather than seeing it as something to mourn.
3. What is it going to be? The fountain is also symbolic to me because ever since I was little I grewup around fountains. Myentire family loves fountains. Wehave them everywhere in my house. The sound of the trickling water gives me such a tranquil feeling and seeing birds and other wildlife drink from the fountainalways gave me such a sense of pleasurebecause I am such an animal lover. A fountain to me gives the essence of ever flowing water, although each of us has a life that ends, life itself is never ending. I decided that the actual memorial itself would be a fountain. The iconography book correlates the idea of a fountain to the Virgin Mary who is widely regarded as the fountain of living waters. Although I could never see myself as being a precious and as divine as the Virgin Mary, being Catholic I have always looked at her in statues and read about her and aspired to be the kind of woman she was. She always given me the sense of being caring, devoted, and the image of safety and nurturing.
4. WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE? I would want to have the moon simply because of my love for astrology and because the moon symbolizes the idea of a guiding light even in the night sky. The idea of playful angels gives a happy, delicate feeling to the monument rather than a the idea of sadness and mourning. I decided to make the fountain the color blue simply because it is my favorite color and because the color blue is often associated with relaxation and tranquility. I would love to have it made of a marble finish with a silver speckled shiny finish to it. On top of the fountain there would be a crescent shaped moon with two playful angels.
5. SYMBOLS…What would they be and why? I always grew up with flowers gracing my entire house. I have some “green thumbs” in my family and the beauty of flowers has always awed me. I always have flowers in my room because the colors and the beauty can truly brighten any atmosphere. My friends and family refer to me as a “flower child” because any chance I get I have flowers in my hair. I would have the images of colored flowers around the entire base of the fountain including my favorite of all flowers the Easter lily, which is also the symbol of purity and the Hibiscus which is a beautiful flower of the Pacific Islands which blooms into one of the most beautiful flowers but dies quickly suggesting the brevity of life.
6. Peace & Love I have always been told I have an old soul and that I should have been born in the sixties so, I must say there would be a peace sign on my monument somewhere. My friends and family have always called me a “hippie.” I am usually thepeacemaker in all arguments. I have always hated fighting and done whatever I can to resolve conflict.
7. Sun, Stars & Moon I would have the sun and the moon on my monument because I love astronomy. I have stars and moons all over my room and my entire life I have always found great pleasure in lying in the grass and star gazing for hours. Our book tells us that the sun and moon together are a symbol of Christianitywhich are attributed to the Virgin Mary. I believe they symbolize the natural beauty and mystery of our world representing the light of our life.
8. Animals & The Hummingbird One of my greatest passions in life other than children are animals. I am an animal lover to the extreme. I have always grown up with a zoo in my house. My pets are my best friends. I always feel they will never let me down and they are always there when I need them. I believe they are more devoted and loving than most humans I know. Although I am terrified of bugs, I am the kind of person that does not have the heart to kill anything. I have a tattoo of a hummingbird because to me a hummingbird is rare, beautiful and unique. It also gives me the idea of flying which has always been something I wished I could have done each time I found myself in a hard time in life. I would certainly have a hummingbird on my monument to symbolize the importance of what it means to me as well as showing a piece of my love for animals since I would be unable to put all animals on my monument.
9. Music & Dance Along with the other symbols on my monument I would have a pair of ballerina shoes and a set of music notes. I have danced since I was little and began playing the violin in fourth grade. Music is one of my greatest passions and is not only a big part of my life but, a very big part of who I am.
10. Nursing Nursing has been one of the hardest most challenging things for me to arrive to and accomplish. Although I still have not reached my RN, there would be a symbol of it on my monument. It is such a huge part of my life and who I am. I have always known I wanted to be a nurse because all I ever wanted was to help others.
11. Holding Hands Among other symbols there would be a symbol of hands holding on my monument. Not just to symbolize my boyfriend and I but, all my relationships in life because without all the people I have had to hold my hand through hard times, I would never be who I am today.
12. The Holy Cross & Ivy I would have the holy cross with ivy wrapped around it on the very top of the fountain to not only show my faith but, to show that no matter where you are in life and no matter how religious you are you always have to believe in something higher and more powerful than you or else you will be lost in life without guidance and you will be tempted to feel better than those around you. The ivy would be there to symbolize fidelity, support, friendship, undying affection, and the trinity. This connects to me and reminds me of all the tough times in life where I felt as if I walked alone, yet God carried me much like in the Footprints prayer.
13. Italian Culture I would also be sure to have the Italian flag on my monument because my culture plays a huge part of who I am. I love cooking so I would have something depicting my love of cooking. This is a very important family tradition taught from woman to woman in my family. I love traveling to Italy to be with my family and take in everything the culture has to offer so the idea of travel would be represented somehow. Around the base of themonument I would have pictures of me in different parts of my life with those I love starting from birth to special occasions to the older age. This is something they do in Italy where you are left with an image of the person who lies there rather than just a name. This makes the monument much easier for others to connect to.
14. Important Life Messages Lastly, I would have two sayings on my monument and a prayer I have always lived by. These sayings and prayers have been with me the past five years of my life. Although that does not seem like a big chunk of time thus far, they have made a huge impact on my life. These messages are not only a constant reminder to keep working hard but, they are what I live by today. I would having something simple like my name, date of birth and day of passing and then something like “still dancing…” on my monument. I feel this leaves the essence behind that even in passing I am happy even in the after-life and that the soul of that who has passed on still remains the same. “Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to Besolved” -Albert Einstein “Live to the fullest, Laugh at all the things that don’t matter, and Love with all that you haveand more”
15. Where, Who, Why? Ultimately, rather than being buried in a cemetery I love the idea of being buried near a waterfall, as near to nature and as far away from the craziness of life as possible. I would want it to be a place where people can come to relax and reminisce without the industrialization of society’s impact . It makes me think that one could return to the earth in the simplest way possible. Although, my monument may sound extravagant I would not want it to appear that way. I would not want it to be huge, and on top of a mountain somewhere because I do not feel I am any more important than anyone else. I would want to be buried around my family and friends to keep the idea in mind that we will always be close even in the after-life. I would like to be around nature, a beautiful tree or garden and be as simple as the person I am but, truly show the beauty of what I had in my life and offer others to find that same beauty that I was able to have. I would want it to offer peace and hope to others and leave a positive message behind that others can take away with them as I have had the experience to do during my time at Spring Grove.
