Week 2 Reflection

This week was much different from the last because of the array of monuments. The first week was mostly more traditional monuments and graves with a lot of marquee names in the city. This week was full of new symbols, structures, and setups. I witnessed a few monuments in the form of a tree. The tree branches cut off represent the end of life and family line but I also came to find out that most of the trees in the cemetery were done by big wigs in the insurance business. I am not sure of the significance of trees and insurance, although I am sure there is one. I also saw a lot of masonic symbols. One of the symbols that struck me most was the iron cross. Knowing that Cincinnati has a deep German Heritage cleared up my reasoning for seeing so many. The iron cross was a war symbol worn by the Germans during Word War II. The symbol is now used not only by a skateboard company, but as a general symbol for power (which might explain why they were mostly on the larger monuments). I left the cemetery still asking my self the question of how these people want to be remembered. I have a hard time coming to understand the need for larger statues and monuments because the dead have passed and are no longer with us. Do these people want to be remembered for being vein and powerful or just have a place for their family survived to reflect and cherish the life of the deceased... The question still remains!