Liu Yong
Tomb-Sweeping Day, go to mother's grave.
The cemetery was chosen according to the mother's instructions, and the interval was not far, so that even little feet could often walk home.
"Just don't know the soul of the old niang at home now, still in the cemetery. I said to my wife.
"If we know that we are going to Tomb-Sweeping Day, we should wait in the cemetery! 」
Maple has just sprouted, cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and clusters of pink are white. The grass is light green, dark green and khaki. Light green has been developed for many years, and there are "old households" living below. Dark green should have come from last year, so it is especially green because of the newly sown grass. Huang Tu is a new grave with a bare loess cup.
"Blowing your face is not cold", this is the weather. Many paper crosses trembling in the wind were inserted in the cemetery for Easter. Some people without crosses should not be Christians, but they are not alone. Especially in the graves of Jews, besides flowers, there are tall bronze lamps with faint candlelight inside.
Through many new graves and old graves, we came to our mother's "Yin House". In the past years, my son and I have tried our best to dig out the flowers planted in the ice and snow, but they have long since disappeared. However, daffodils and crocuses planted a few years ago have appeared.
Ten years later, the granite monument is as good as new, but the white pigment filled between the inscriptions has fallen off a lot. I tore off the package outside the bouquet and gave it to my wife, then tied the branches tightly and inserted them in the grass. Because there is much rain and the soil is soft, it can be buried three inches. After inserting it, I felt that the flower was too high and covered the stone tablet, so I pulled it out and shortened it. My wife is sharp-eyed and sees some plastic pipes specially used for arranging flowers on the roadside. So they went to find the tap, filled the spool with water and placed it in the middle and on both sides of the tombstone. Purple vanilla is in the middle, Huang Juhua is on the right and pink carnation is on the left.
Half a foot away from the flower and one and a half feet down, it's mother's urn, pure copper, which used to shine. I don't know if it is covered with thick patina now, or if it has rusted and become a part of the earth.
Although the tablet was engraved with his father's name and left an empty side, in order not to disturb his father who had died for more than 40 years, he never touched the ashes buried in the suburbs of Taipei. Of course, there is another reason: this is a foreign land. One day, when I move back to China, I will definitely take my old mother underground and be buried with my father.
Although my father's grave is protected by managers, it is also paid every year, but except for Qingming, it is covered with decayed leaves of Casuarina equisetifolia at other times, so I have to sweep it myself. But the cemetery of this American church is divided. I checked around the stone tablet, but I couldn't find a weed on the velvet lawn.
Squatting in front of the grave, patting the grass, patting the old mother below, telling her that I came to see her again, and asking my wife later, do you want to report to the old lady about the recent situation in Liu Xuan? The wife smiled and said that the grandson had knelt in the snow and told grandma last time.
Isn't it? When the snow fell to a foot and a half, I deliberately said it was too cold. My wife and I hid in the car first and found our son kneeling in the snow for a long time. Children in our country, especially boys, always hide their feelings. If I don't give him a chance alone, even if I have a lot of ideas, I'm afraid he will swallow them.
The wife picked up the broken stems one by one and took them to the trash can by the roadside. I guess she gave me a chance to talk to my mother, just like I did to my son.
Squatting in front of the monument, I pressed the plastic container of flower arrangement hard, then took off the rubber band on the flower and let the branches spread evenly. Carnation has a special fragrance, faint, like maternal love. I have a lot to say, but I don't know what to say. I can only kneel and pat the grass and say, "Mom, I have to see you another day." 」
Walk along the grave to the parking lot. A middle-aged woman, sitting on a bench under a tree, wiped her tears. When she saw us, she deliberately turned her face to the other side. Not far ahead, there really is a new grave, which is full of flowers and covered with loess.
Let's go if we can! I took my wife and turned right to the cemetery on the hillside so as not to disturb the sad woman.
The higher up, the older the tomb. The words on many marble tablets have disappeared and are difficult to distinguish. Only granite tombstones, even those erected in19th century, are as bright as new. The wife said with a smile, the new marble memorial tablet must be very handsome. Unexpectedly, there are no words after more than one hundred years.
I said, goodbye? What if I don't see you? How many children of the monument builders will come to pay their respects? Several strangers will stand in front of the monument and read the ink on it. Wouldn't it be better to return to ordinary stones and become a part of the earth landscape one day?
But we still choose those extraordinary tombstones and look at the statues and epitaphs on them. Some are engraved with medals to see the year of birth and death. They died young and strong, perhaps heroes of World War I; Some are engraved with angels, but they are not even one year old and should die young. I also saw a relatively new cemetery with many heart-shaped bronze sculptures embedded in the lawn, each of which was engraved with a name and an angel's pattern. Look at the year of birth and death, full of dolls under five who died in 200 1 year. Could it be a kindergarten fire or a car accident? Many graves are filled with porcelain animal dolls and bunches of flowers. Obviously, the doll's parents often come. Looking up, there are many puppets hanging on the tree.
Children's laughter came from the distance, and several children were running out of your church in the cemetery. There used to be a kindergarten with many red and green musical instruments around it.
Children play in the driveway first, then run on the grass and play hide-and-seek between tombstones. When they ran past the grave full of toys, it seemed that their footsteps were light, for fear of shaking all the dolls around them. The church bell rang. The wind is blowing and the cherry blossoms are raining. Our car slowly drove out of the cemetery, and the sun reflected on the right side of the gate. In a hurry, we caught a glimpse of many wine bottles standing in front of a monument, each half full, and the monument was engraved with Korean.