Advice from the grave for a young traveler
20 April 2007
Penn Yan Public Library
Penn Yan, Finger Lakes, New York State, USA
6.15pm
Advice from the grave for a young traveler
On the road from Canandaigua to Gorham in the Finger Lakes in New York State, there is a graveyard at a crossroads. The crossroads intersect in the middle of rolling farmland. The graveyard is little more than a hillock with old oak trees surrounding it. The graves date from the the early nineteenth century, and the trees probably do too.
The gravestones are crumbling and some broken pieces are piled next to the trunk of a tree. One in particular stood out for me. Apparently people would sometimes choose a standard verse for the carver to put on the stone.
A gravestone of a certain Luther, son of David (and ?) Elizabeth, died Jan. 30, 1810 aged 2 years (10 months?) & 20 days, has this inscribed:
Behold young traveler as you pass by,
As you are now so once was I.
As I am now so you must be.
Prepare in youth to follow me.
Advice from the grave for a young traveler
