66 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2017
I
've begun to think of visiting cemeteries as a sort of homecoming. Maybe that seems
morbid, but after recently burying my grandfather it feels a little more like I've got
roots in these places, like I can pull up a chair and tell them I like what they've done
with the place. The only difference now, really, is that he can't tell me I should be
driving a Ford instead of a foreign car. Settled between a highway, Nebraska's rolling
hills and lush farmland, my grandparents get to be close to the three things they loved
most: the open road, abundant soil and each other.
Even in churchyards filled with the names and ashes of people I never knew, the
cemetery is still a homecoming in that it has come to remind me
of all the things Nebraskans love best about our state: unrivaled
landscapes; quiet, fragrant mornings; and peace of mind. It's no
wonder these people find rest in these rural Nebraska cemeteries;
they get to be closest to it all.
Sarah Kocher
August 4, 2015
Coming Home: Nebraska's Rural Cemeteries
