Last year I buried 150+ people. I was also the machine operator for two disinterments.

All funerals are hard, but the hardest was an infant.

I have three children from three women and I haven't been allowed to be a part of their lives. It's weighed heavy on me and it's one reason I put everything into working the cemetery.

I was given the task of opening a baby grave and was told I could tap out and have someone else finish it if it was too much.

I chose to see it through.

Alone, I dug the grave and prepped the area. My partner and I laid wood across to test for the small box as they had a service.

The family was quiet, but the mother let out a cry I wish no one ever had to hear.

I've lost friends as kids to cancer and violence and heard it before. I'll probably carry that sound in the back of my head until I'm laid to rest myself.

After the funeral we cleaned up the area.

Since then the grass has grown back. The monument has been placed. The area is the best I can make it.

That night all I wanted was to talk to my youngest son who I'm still fighting for in family court.

I asked his mother if I could talk to him for a minute and was denied just hearing his voice.

I often wonder what I did in life to have to carry these burdens.

My parents abandoned me when I was 14 and I will never know when they pass. I've been kept from my children so they will never know when I pass.

So I tend the cemetery the best I can. It's now my purpose in life.

Hi everyone. Visited a cemetery yesterday and saw these jars on one of the structures. Any idea what’s in them and what they might be for?

Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle Washington

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150277164/william-tuttle-akey?_gl=1\*e9f1vz\*_gcl_au\*MTY4MjkyNzg0NC4xNzkyMzI4NDgy\*_ga\*NTcyMTg3ODQ2LjE3OTIzMjg0ODQ.\*_ga_4QT8FMEX30\*c2JlZGMzZmQ5LWNkNDctNGU0Yi04YmRkLTc4OTAxOGM0MGUyMSRvMSRnMSR0MTc5MjMyODUwNCRqNDAkbDAkaDA.\*_ga_LMK6K2LSJH\*c2JlZGMzZmQ5LWNkNDctNGU0Yi04YmRkLTc4OTAxOGM0MGUyMSRvMSRnMSR0MTc5MjMyODUwNCRqNDAkbDAkaDA.

Took a lil stroll through the cemetery this morning and saw a random piles of leaves swirling around, as if some little kid were running around throwing and kicking the leaves.

It was probably just the wind, but it’s kind of beautiful to imagine it really was the spirit of a child just playing around on a sunny autumn day :)

Was stehst du hier, und verwunderst dich? Was du warst, das war auch ich. Was ich bin, das wirst du werden: Staub und Erden.

(Why do you stand here and marvel? What you were, I also was. What I am, you will become: dust and earth.)

A tremendous German epitaph also featuring a great little skull, the classic R.I.P., and the symbol of faith hope and love.

I'm researching Stratton Burying Ground, established in 1813 in Evesham Township and incorporated into Medford Township in 1847. I'm familiar with its general history, the four surviving headstones, the 1997 fence installation, and the historical marker. I'm looking for primary sources and genuine research leads, not information already available on Google or Find a Grave. Does anyone know where original burial registers, cemetery maps, township minutes, Overseers of the Poor records, or other documents relating to burials and cemetery administration might be held? I'm particularly interested in whether records were transferred or retained when Medford separated from Evesham in 1847, and what original sources were used to create the historical marker. I've contacted the NJ State Archives, local historical societies, and municipal agencies, but haven't found the records I'm seeking. I'm nearly certain an ancestor of mine was buried here, and locating these sources could help resolve a longstanding genealogical mystery. Any information about archival collections, obscure local records, or people who might know where these documents went would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Anyone know university research labs, archaeology centers, internships, state programs that give you fieldwork of documenting the bios and type of tombstones, grief rituals, sacred spaces? Or if anyone works in a funeral home or in the death industry in whatever capacity (embalmer, admin, funeral director, sales, counseling) could you talk about what you do in a day of work? I find cemeteries quite peaceful and wouldn't mind working in this field, just don't really know where to start.

Seven tent graves at a family cemetery near Commerce, Georgia. Most dated 1850s.

https://southerncemetery.com/2026/10/13/the-tent-graves-of-riley-bolton-cemetery-near-commerce-ga/

I have visited an old Lutheran Cemetery today and found some perculiar symbols that don't look like ordinary decorations. If someone could tell the meanings, that would be very much appreciated. Also, why are there so many vases on top of the gravestones?

I'm a gravedigger at a Jewish cemetery - no embalming.

This was my third disinterment and I haven't really talked about how weird they feel.

It was Thanksgiving morning. We opened late but I came in at my usual time. Walk to the coffee shop, get my coffee, walk to work, open the gates, open the office. Pull my chair outside and drink my coffee in the quiet until the other staff arrive. That's my favorite part.

We had a disinterment scheduled. Family knew from the start they wanted him moved home after the war, once the no-fly lifted. So this was a temporary rest here.

I set the boards to contain the dirt, set up the excavator, dug down to the metal medical casket. That metal casket isn't our usual - we bury in simple wood - but you need it to ship internationally.

Waited for the removal team. 5 of them this time, women ran the crew. They carefully shoveled around the casket so I could lift it with the straps that were left on.

When it came up it had a slight tilt and started leaking like a juice box. Almost everyone ran for masks. The smell was intense.

They put it on the grass, pulled the straps, popped the little tabs that hold the lid like a picture frame. Inside the body was in a white body bag but floating in fluid. You could see red and orange in it. We lifted the body into a new medical casket, then into a cardboard box stapled shut labeled "human remains." Looked like a big post office box.

The fluids left in the casket and the grave - we had to absorb it all. About 30 sheets, shovels, all bagged to go with him to the other country.

10 of us there that morning. My office manager there because he had to be, off to the side. My two partners on deck. Me in the excavator. Five from the removal team. All on the clock. All making money off moving a body because the family finally could send him home. I get why they wanted it, I do. But once you've been laid to rest, you should get to rest. It felt very un-restful.
Same week we had the opposite.

First funeral I've done with absolutely no family. Just a rabbi, 3 from their side, and us 3.

This one had no one.

We backfilled the whole grave by hand. Machine would have been faster, but it didn't feel right to do it fast when no one was there to watch anyway. That was our respect for that person. Three guys with shovels, taking our time.

No expensive casket. No removal team. No 30 sheets. No one making money off it. Just a quiet grave and the sound of dirt.

In our tradition that's a chesed shel emet - a kindness that can't be repaid. He can't thank us.

Two burials in one week. One with 9 people and a shipping label, one with no one and shovels by hand. I know which one felt more like respect.

Does anyone else in cemetery work feel that way about disinterments?