GRAVE SEARCH by Rayene Sperbeck [email protected]

A year ago I went to Calvary Cemetery in Fresno, California, to visit the graves of my grandparents, who had died in the 1930s. The graves were nowhere to be found. I knew the spot exactly, but now it was nothing but a large, mowed, and grassy area. When I was a child, the graves were in an elevated plot. I Remember climbing up two stone steps with the family name on it along the inside roadway. When I returned, there was no roadway or steps. The cemetery had filled the roadway with graves and brought the level up over the top of the steps. I knew this had happened because there was an enormous white angel with her arms open wide right next to the graves of my family. That was the key. Someone in the cemetery office told me the graves were in this area, but would not explain what had happened.

On 23 December 2001, my cousins and I, joined by our husbands and shovels, went digging. It was an unusual experience to be in a cemetery looking for gravestones in the misty December Fresno fog. One of my cousins has connections with the church and she said, "Just leave this to me." One of the caretakers had given her a probe. We brought up and reset on the surface two stones we found that belonged to another family. Then we discovered the two steps. It was an overwhelming feeling to see being uncovered the steps with the family name CULLEN on them. We just stood in amazement and wiped away our tears. However, we were unable to find my grandparents and great-grandparents. It was drizzling and the day was so cold that we had to give up.

I returned to San Diego and persisted in calling the cemetery. Finally, they just got fed up with hearing my name and had the caretakers go out and find three of the graves and bring the stones to the surface. Just a few weeks ago, I was in Fresno for a brief time and we stopped by Calvary Cemetery. I was so pleased to find that now my grandparents' stone and a great- uncle's stone are where they can be seen.

There are still three missing gravestones, including my great- grandparents', that I'll continue to work on with the cemetery. Staff members tell me that the gravestones are not in the plot, but all the records say they are, even the cemetery's records. It just depends upon the person you are talking to at the time.

On one of the Irish mailing lists at RootsWeb, I found a verse that has stuck with me. I think of it every time I visit one of the cemeteries where our family members are buried:

I hear ethereal whispers, persuasive, soft and still. Daughter, if you don't remember us, who will?

The next time I am in Fresno and plan to go to Calvary Cemetery, I think that I will take along a box of chocolates.