GONE too Soon

Addie, aged 6 months and 5 days

John, aged 4 months and 5 days

Maggie, aged 7 days

GONE too soon!

The  GRAVE markers in Old Live Oak Cemetery tell the heartbreaks

 of yesteryear. They were the children of John and Julia A. Moran. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday where the letter is G

Epithet

"Budded on Earth to Bloom in Heaven" reads the epithet for little Margaret Nell.

 The many graves of children in Old Live Oak Cemetery reminds us how fragile life

 is and certainly once was for the very young. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday's (The Letter E)

Windswept

When Saturday's showers moved out, the wind moved in,

 and those who attended the Old Live Oak Cemetery "Ghost Tour"

had a hauntingly beautiful setting to hear the tales

 of some of Selma's most famous residents. 

Linking to Our World Tuesday

A Blue-Sky Week

Selma has enjoyed mostly blue skies this week, and they make

 a splendid background for the Bradford pear and Spanish Moss

 in Old Live Oak Cemetery. The cemetery will be the site Saturday evening

 for a "Ghost Walk" during the Selma Pilgrimage. Guests get to "meet"

 and hear the stories of the cemetery's famous residents. 

Linking to Skywatch Friday 

In Memory

I love the way that mamas are memorialized in Old Live Oak Cemetery.

They were often put on pedestals, and many died young and/or lost babies

 and young children. The  ornate monuments and heartfelt inscriptions

 certainly honor their lives. 

Linking to Blue Monday

and City Daily Photo Blogs

The Old Live Oak Cemetery Spring House

Old Live Oak Cemetery is a never-ending canvas for artists and photographers,

 and its colors are most beautiful in April.

Behind drapes of Spanish Moss, you see the Spring House or Pigeon House.

 It was here that Memorial Day concerts and programs were held,

 and it is also here where pigeons used to roost in its gables,

 now closed off. Today, it serves as storage. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday where the letter is "O"
Wordless Wednesday

 and City Daily Photo Blogs

Moss at the Mausoleum

 Selma's Spanish MOSS is quite an attraction but nowhere better

 than the deep canopies it creates in Old Live Oak Cemetery, 

In Spring, it is even more beautiful as azalea blossoms are drenched 

with its tendrils. Here, the moss hangs over the MAUSOLEUM 

of U.S. Vice President William Rufus King.

Linking to ABC Wednesday where the letter this week is "M," 

and City Daily Photo Blogs

 

He is Risen!

1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope

 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead... (NIV)

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Aging (City Daily Photo Theme Day)

Monuments in Old Live Oak Cemetery have been

 showing their ages for a long, long time! 

The Washington Smith marker may have a bit of tarnish,

 but his story still sparkles.

 Smith was a Selma banker, and before Yankee troops

 invaded town in April 1865, he hid the bank's gold in a column on his house.

 The downstairs was used to treat injured Union soldiers after the Battle of Selma,

 but during their stay they never found the bank's assets. When the Yankees

 were gone, the gold was retrieved by cutting a hole in the bottom of the column.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Because He Lives

HAPPY EASTER! 

"Because He Lives" by Bill Gaither.

God sent his son
They called him Jesus
He came to love
Heal and forgive
He lived and died
To buy my pardon
An empty grave
Is there to prove
My Savior lives.

(Chorus)
Because he lives
I can face tomorrow
Because he lives
All fear is gone
Because I know
He holds the future
And life is worth the living
Just because he lives.

M is for Magnolia

Although it's known as Old Live Oak Cemetery, this historic resting place 

is home to many magnolias too. The enormous trees provide much

 of the shade along the lanes. 

Linking to ABC Wednesday and City Daily Photo Blogs   

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/2014/04/m-is-for-mice.html

Autumn Red

The RED hues of autumn are especially bright right now among the dogwoods,

 and there are many in Old Live Oak Cemetery.

Linking to ABC Wednesday (the Letter R)

and City Daily Photo Blogs

Honoring our War Dead

On Memorial Day, Americans honor those who died in service to their country.

 This monument at Old Live Oak Cemetery lists several from Selma

 in various branches of the military, including Navy Lt. John T. Melvin,

 who was the first American officer to die in World War I. He was aboard 

 the patrol boat Alcedo when it was sunk by a German submarine.

Linking to City Daily Photo Blogs

Revival

There's a revival going on in Old Live Oak Cemetery this week!

An angel points the way to Heaven, while azaleas and dogwoods fill the "pews,"

and a cool breeze lifts the spirit of the Spanish Moss!

Linking to Weekly Top Shot and City Daily Photo Blogs

Brokenhearted Wife

We don't know who S.B. McC. was, but this simple tombstone in

 Confederate Circle at Old Live Oak Cemetery was erected

 by his broken-hearted wife. 

Thanks to guest photographer Kathy Prince for this photograph!

Linking to Taphophile Tragics, Our World Tuesday and City Daily Photo Blogs

An Old Weathered Cross

There are many crosses in Old Live Oak Cemetery, but this one escaped

 my notice until a few days ago. This old weathered cross stands atop 

what I call the angel monument in the Jones plot. 

The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity, and the hymn,

 "The Old Rugged Cross," is surely one of my favorites.  

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

Linking to Weekly Top Shot and City Daily Photo Blogs

Near the Cross

"Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day
with its shadow o'er me."

(from "Near the Cross")

Linking to Shadow Shot Sunday

Gentle Spirits

Old Live Oak Cemetery is home to several monuments to young wives and mothers. 

This one honors a man's first wife, Florida, and their baby; as well as his

 second wife, Anna. Florida died at age 24, and Anna was gone at age 37. 

Rest in Peace

Visitors to Old Live Oak Cemetery can rest upon this bench in the

 peaceful surroundings of oak and magnolia trees and streamers of Spanish Moss. 

ABC Wednesday, O is for Old Live Oak Cemetery

ABC Wednesday is featuring the letter "O," and oh my, once again I see an opportunity

 to post a photo of Old Live Oak Cemetery!

We call it Old Live Oak, because there is also a New Live Oak Cemetery.

 The old cemetery is home to numerous outstanding monuments and billowing sheets

 of Spanish Moss. It is just optimum for snapping pictures, too!

Posted at ABC Wednesday