Graveyards are not morbid...

On route to our local high street this morning, we passed one of our local churches which includes a graveyard. As we walked passed Lillie wanted to explore more fully! She has been questioning 'death' quite a lot lately & to be honest I dont know exactly why. She has never given a reason. Maybe the fairly recent death of her Great Grandad & my frequent mentioning of her second cousin Lawrence, as well as her being with me one time on a visit to his grave has influenced such thoughts. Whatever her reason for broaching the subject, I personally do not think it healthy to avoid it when mentioned. This was also the case when Louis was much younger and wished to discuss 'life & death'. I have always tried my best to answer any question Lillie or her brother have had about this subject, yet explain that my answers may not be the same as somebody else's, as we all develop our own beliefs, theories etc about death and what happens to people after. And that this is ok... I feel by being 'openminded' will help them to appreciate that we are not all the same as well as encourage their young minds to explore as many possibilities as they wish to, so that they arrive at their own conclusions if & when that happens...

Well back to exploring the church grounds which was interesting for Lillie. She understood that many of the headstones had been there for many many years and that some people had died at fairly young ages to. Lillie didnt question this, yet I am certain she will in time. Its all part of being inquisitive isnt it? We also looked at the church exterior and she asked to go inside. Unfortunately it was all locked up! However, she does have an idea of what a church looks like inside from our visit to Hadlow in Kent last summer. As we were leaving today, Lillie did something very sweet & thoughtful - she placed a freshly picked daisy & a pine cone she found on a stoned tomb. She asked me if I thought the person inside would like what she had done. My reply was that Im sure they would have thought this very kind of her. She smiled at this & we continued on our way...