Recently, we visited Great Lakes National Cemetery
as a family. Kurt and Beth humor me with my cemetery rituals – always enter the
cemetery with the 80s music playing, a visit to Shane’s gravesite, which
includes flowers, poetry, music, conversation, and lastly, a Coke and sourdough
pretzels.
Then a drive around the
cemetery to view the nature. The cemetery is located on over 500 acres with a
small lake; it is truly a beautiful resting place for the veterans. And then I
spotted the swans – they were far off, but I wanted to capture another photo of
the swans and their not so tiny cygnets. Kurt stopped the car, and I ventured
through the tall grass and weeds. After taking a photo or two, we stopped once
more at Shane’s gravesite.
It wasn’t until later that
I had an opportunity to put the photographs on my computer. I could not believe
my eyes when I zoomed in on the photo. The swans are fairly well hidden amongst
all the trees, but there, on a fallen branch, is a turtle. Yes, a turtle!
This little turtle put
such a smile on my face because of a silly video on youtube entitled, “Zombie
Kid Likes Turtles.” The video has over 37,000,000 million views since being
posted in 2007. A young boy with a freshly painted zombie face is asked by
reporter what he thinks about his face paint. The boy’s response is, “I like
turtles.”
And with that, “I like
turtles” was a response commonly heard in the Reifert household no matter what
was the posed question. Just when I thought I would no longer hear that
response, it would pop up again. Thus, turtles became another connection to
Beth and Shane.
Gifts with a turtle theme
always have a special meaning and are not given lightly. Recently, Beth gave me
a turtle charm, which I will wear on a necklace. And if I close my eyes tightly
enough, I can still hear Shane say, “I like turtles.”
So, little turtle on the
fallen branch, were you there for a reason? To put a smile on my face? To help
mend a broken heart? To bring fond memories to the front? Or quite simply –
Shane being Shane and bearing another gift?
As I continue to “put one
foot in front of the other.”
Peace-
Always and forever,
Shane’s Mammy and Beth’s
Momma
