Sunday, July 13, 2008
This week, the Curmudgeon is not griping. I hope that you will enjoy “The Basketball”.
The Basketball
On most evenings just before sunset, when the weather is warm, I walk the three blocks from my home to the local cemetery to visit my wife's grave.
About a year ago I noticed that there was a basketball sitting in front of a tombstone about five graves to my left. Now, almost one year has passed and the basketball is still sitting there, how odd.
The grounds keepers cut the grass at least once a week. They move the ball, cut the grass and replace the ball in exactly the same place. I have seen groups of teenagers go past on many occasions and still the, almost new basketball, sits there unmoved. No one has damaged it or stolen it or even moved it from it's vigil if front of the tombstone.
Is it possible that there is still a tiny bit of respect for something in this modern world today? Stealing and defacing is so commonplace now that I am in awe that the ball that has survived for close to a year without a scratch. This has given me just a tiny sliver of hope that all is not lost. Perhaps a tiny peice of common decency still survives in our cold world.
The dates on the stone indicate that this boy was only 23.
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