To the editor:
My father’s family was from Caribou. In fact my beloved grandmother lived on the River Road in a house her husband had built until she died in 1975. I spent many summers with my grandmother. I have many favorite memories from those visits, one being our daily trips to the cemetery to care for sites that marked her husband’s, infant son’s and other family members’ final resting places. We would water plants, trim grass, pick up debris and brush off stones. All the while my grandmother would tell me stories. Most of these people I had never met but I got to know them through her stories. I got to know my family’s history.
I don’t visit that cemetery very often anymore. Like many families today we are spread out throughout the state and the nation. However, recently my 85-year-old father and I took a drive to Caribou and visited that cemetery. My heart broke when we drove onto the grounds. It was a mess. The grass was long and there were fallen trees everywhere. Some headstones were leaning in such a manner that it is only time before they fall. It looked neglected and forgotten.
I know that these are difficult times for communities, but I am concerned about the neglect of this cemetery and the message that gives to our children. The legacy that our forefathers left us is so important to the future of our children. They learn who they are and who they can become by understanding who came before them. And when one walks into a neglected cemetery it seems to be a statement that those who came before us do not matter and have been forgotten
Linda Wark
Belgrade
