Cemetery for Hugh and Verda Smith

Gale / Hugh Smith, Verda Smith / Toledo /

I recently made a visit to Ottawa Hills Cemetery to see the graves for mom and dad. I had contacted the cemetery and they emailed me maps to help in locating their graves. Their graves are in section EE and plot 84.

Map of Ottawa Hills Cemetery

Bear in mind this comes from someone who deeply desires cremation. Nuke me and throw my ashes to the winds. I have never been particularly enamored with the idea of someone I love rotting in the ground.

This particular cemetery must not allow grave stones. I’m sure mom ordered the brass plate because that’s what was allowed at the time of dad’s death. I found them very depressing. With all the freezing and thawing of the ground in that part of the country the plates were all sinking down into the soil and there was no way to make them look good. Personally, if I were to stick someone in the ground I would want a marble stone that would stand for many, many years.

When mom chose the plot there was a pine tree and dogwood very near that I thought dad would like. Now there is no dogwood, no pine, only a very large tree — I couldn’t tell what it was.  Currently, their graves are located by the large tree in the center of the picture below. Who knows what it will look like in 10, 20, 30 years from now.

Homes in Toledo

Gale / Hugh Smith, Verda Smith / Toledo /

It was easy to recognize the house at 5723 Yermo even though the lilac bushes along both side of the back yard were gone, and the poplar trees along the back of the lot were gone. What had been new construction when mom and dad built is now a street lined with huge trees. Amazing what 30 years will do for trees.

In grade school my best friend lived across the street in the house one to the right of ours. When I looked across from our front door to her front door it appeared to be a mile away. Now I see they were small front yards, narrow roads, and her door was barely a hop and skip away.

The perfectly manicured yard that daddy maintained was no more, but still after all these years it looks like a really solid house. My bedroom window was the one to the right of the porch. I spent a lot of time looking out that window.

Next stop was the high school Rick and I both attended — Whitmer High School. It looked smaller too.

Last stop was the last house they built on Raganwoods. Another perfectly manicured yard gone to pot. The TV antenna that Josh used to climb was gone. Huge trees had replaced the ones dad had planted. I was told the neighborhood is not going in a good direction.

This will hopefully be my final trip down memory lane in Toledo. I don’t have good memories and am not fond of the town and hope I have no reason to go back again.