Tombstone Tuesday - A walk through Holy Rood & St. Brigid's cemeteries on a gorgeous autumn afternoon

Just a typical Saturday afternoon, wandering around a cemetery. Creepy, you ask? Not at all. Just my idea of fun, I answer.

I had to work at St. Brigid's Catholic Church in Westbury (Long Island) this past Saturday, Nov. 13, and I got there early. Realizing it was right next door to Holy Rood Cemetery and had an old cemetery of its own, *and* that I had my camera with me, I decided to go for a walk. I know some people get creeped out by cemeteries but I have always found them peaceful, and now that I'm a genealogy buff, I find them all the more interesting, looking at names and dates and just thinking about the past and our histories. Even when it doesn't pertain to my own family, sometimes I like to go and just "say hi" to the names I cross as I make my way through the headstones. I like to pay attention to the names - after all, that's why those markers are there, so that the people those names belonged to can be remembered. Plus, you never know which of those people don't have anyone around to remember them anymore. So I like to take a little time to do that. I also like to pause at those old white headstones that are so faded and worn that you can't even read the names anymore - that kind of makes me sad. So even though I don't know who they are, I like to stop and "say hi."

Anyway, these are some photos of some of the headstones I came across that day. My dad has a thing about angel headstones, so I was paying particular attention to them. The two cemeteries blend into each other, so I'm not sure where one ends and the other begins, but most of these were in the St. Brigid's part, I think, right behind the church.

Carmeno Capobianco & family

DeFerrari family

Angel hiding in the bushes - McGunnigle family

Sad little angel - Behr family

Love these Celtic cross headstones

Children's graves always make me sad - Eugene Francis Rhodes, died age 8.

Vallely family

Close-up of Vallely angel

Always interesting to see a headstone inscribed in a different language. This one is in Italian, and says something about a mother, a son, and Enrico Strada.

Della Ratta family