Through it All

In uncovering the layers of history of Morningside Hospital, I was told recently by a former employee that from 1928 until the hospital closed, a Catholic mass was said in the large room every week and also that a local parish (Ascension) had regular volunteers who assisted and visited the patients.  Indeed, the hospital was seen as an extension of the parish and patients were included, whenever possible, in parish life.  In death, patients were given last rights and then burial in a Catholic cemetery.  According to the former employee, (who, by the way is now 80 and has a remarkably good memory of her time at Morningside) other faiths represented in the neighborhood were regularly invited to the hospital on behalf of the patients, but none other than Ascension Parish responded.  Quite remarkable!

Headstone of the Week - The Broken Chain

Several weeks ago, Dave and I were in Salem at the State Archives.  On our lunch break near the old IOOF Cemetery, (which is huge and quite fabulous, by the way), I found this old stone with a curious carving.  It shows the broken chain in symbolism that the person under the stone no longer has any ties to this earthly realm.

The stone dates from 1884 and is sheltered under a large Madrone tree, which preserves the carving nicely.