Calumet Park Cemetery will be available to help locate graves from 10-1 on Mother’s Day. We are covid-conscious yet understand the importance of visiting all the mom’s who are interred at Calumet Park. Due to the virus, we will be serving families outside of the office building. The Mausoleum buildings, including restrooms, will be open for visitation on Mother’s Day.
A Mother’s Day story
A story that I overheard when I was just a boy has stuck with me for over 60 years. It was the year my father died. The world was different then, and people seemed more trusting, kind, thoughtful and loving. The story was about a man who stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother for Mother’s Day. His mother lived quite a distance from him, but it was always his tradition to send her flowers with a nice card. He was a busy man, and felt that sending flowers was a good way to let his mother know that he was thinking of her on her special day.
When the man went to open the door to the flower shop, he noticed a young girl and an older boy sitting on the curb, sobbing. He asked them what was wrong and she replied, “We wanted to buy a red rose for our mom. We only have a quarter and roses cost one dollar each and we don’t have enough money.”
The man smiled and told them to come with him into the store and he would buy the flower and she could give him her quarter. He bought the little girl her rose and ordered a dozen red roses for his mother. After writing his standard “I love you” on the card to be sent to his mother, he went out of the store and saw the kids turn the corner and disappear from sight.
The man caught up to the kids and offered to give the siblings a ride home. The little girl said, “Yes, please. You can take us to our mother.” She and her brother got in the car and her brother directed the man to a cemetery. Once there, she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man watched from a distance and listened to the little girl and her brother as they talked to their mom.
The man left the children, returned to the flower shop and canceled the wire order to his mother. When asked by the flower clerk why he was canceling, he said, “Oh, I still want the flowers. I am just canceling the wired part. I just feel a need to give them to mom in person.” With that, he picked up the bouquet and drove the 100 miles to his mother’s house.
The story touched me, even as a young boy. Mothers are special, and the message I got was that the wired flowers seemed like an easy out instead of taking the time to go visit one of the most important women in any person’s life. This year is especially hard for children of all ages to visit their mothers, whether they are going through the isolation due to the pandemic and using a smart phone, or visiting their mom’s final resting place at Calumet Park Cemetery.
As a parent of two wonderful daughters, there are no gifts that mean as much to me and to my wife as sharing time with our girls. Gifts not needed…visits, whether via the phone, face-timing or what have you, the contact is all that is wanted. Bless you all and Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers. Thank you for all that you do. You are appreciated.
From your friends at Calumet Park Cemetery, Calumet Park Funeral Chapels in Merrillville and Hobart, and Rendina Funeral Home.
Calumet Park Cemetery is giving a facelift to the mausoleums in preparation for Memorial Weekend. Over time, the buildings have become an eyesore due to weather, pollution, and who knows what. On your next visit to the park, drive past the three mausoleums at the west side of the cemetery. Something old can look like something new with some tender, loving care which is proven by the restoration shown above as Calumet Park gets ready for the thousands of families that will visit Calumet Park Cemetery over Memorial Weekend.
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