MELISSA’S MEMORIAL MONUMENT

When trying to decide what to do for my memorial

monument I was somewhat at a loss in the

beginning because it was in a way scary to

imagine it but, when I took a step back and looked

at it as an artistic way of leaving a simple reminder

of who I am and what I want to leave behind it

became much easier. Doing this was in a way like

decorating a MySpace page. It is a way to show

who you are without someone ever meeting you. I

decided take what I learned from my time in Spring

Grove and apply it to my life, my personality and

the kind of message I would want to leave behind. I

decided to put my own spin on it, so that when

looking at it one was left with a happy feeling rather

than seeing it as something to mourn.

I decided that the actual memorialitself would be a fountain. Theiconography book correlates the ideaof a fountain to the Virgin Mary whois widely regarded as the fountainof living waters. Although I couldnever see myself as being aprecious and as divine as the VirginMary, being Catholic I have alwayslooked at her in statues and readabout her and aspired to be the kindof woman she was. She alwaysgiven me the sense of being caring,devoted, and the image of safetyand nurturing.

The fountain is also symbolic tome because ever since I waslittle I grew up around fountains.My entire family loves fountains.We have them everywhere in myhouse. The sound of the tricklingwater gives me such a tranquilfeeling and seeing birds andother wildlife drink from thefountain always gave me such asense of pleasure because I amsuch an animal lover. A fountainto me gives the essence of everflowing water, although each ofus has a life that ends, life itselfis never ending.

What is it going to be?

I decided to make thefountain the color bluesimply becauseit is my favorite color andbecause the color blue isoften associated withrelaxation and tranquility. Iwould love to have it madeof a marble finish with asilver speckled shinyfinish to it. On top of thefountain there would be acrescent shaped moon withtwo playful angels.

I would want to havethe moon simplybecause of my love forastronomy and becausethe moon symbolizesthe idea of a guidinglight even in thenight sky. The idea ofplayful angels gives ahappy, delicate feelingto the monumentrather than a the ideaof sadness andmourning.

WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?

I always grew up with flowers gracingmy entire house. I havesome “green thumbs” inmy family and the beautyof flowers has alwaysawed me. I always haveflowers in my roombecause the colors andthe beauty can trulybrighten any atmosphere.My friends and familyrefer to me as a “flowerchild” because anychance I get I haveflowers in my hair.

I would have the imagesof colored flowersaround the entire base ofthe fountain including myfavorite of all flowers theEaster lily, which is alsothe symbol of purity andthe Hibiscus which is abeautiful flower of thePacific Islands whichblooms into one of themost beautiful flowersbut dies quicklysuggesting the brevity oflife.

I have always been told I have an old soul and that I

should have beenborn in the sixties

so, I must say therewould be a peace

sign on my monumentsomewhere. My friends andfamily have always calledme a “hippie.” I am usually

the peacemaker in allarguments. I have

always hated fighting anddone whatever I can to

resolve conflict.

I would have the sun and the moonon my monument because I love

astronomy. I have stars and moonsall over my room and my entire life Ihave always found great pleasure inlying in the grass and star gazing forhours. Our book tells us that the sunand moon together are a symbol ofChristianity which are attributed to

the Virgin Mary. I believe theysymbolize the natural beauty andmystery of our world representing

the light of our life.

Sun, Stars & Moon

One of my greatest passions in life other than childrenare animals. I am an animal lover to the extreme. Ihave always grown up with a zoo in my house. Mypets are my best friends. I always feel they willnever let me down and they are always there when Ineed them. I believe they are more devoted and lovingthan most humans I know. Although I am terrified ofbugs, I am the kind of person that does not have theheart to kill anything. I have a tattoo of a hummingbirdbecause to me a hummingbird is rare, beautiful andunique. It also gives me the idea of flying which hasalways been something I wished I could have done

eachtime I found myself in a hard time in life. I would

certainlyhave a hummingbird on my monument to symbolize theimportance of what it means to me as well asshowing a piece of my love for animals since Iwould be unable to put all animals on mymonument.

Along with the othersymbols on my monument Iwould have a pair ofballerina shoes and a set ofmusic notes. I have dancedsince I was little and beganplaying the violin in fourthgrade. Music is one of mygreatest passions and is notonly a big part of my life but, avery big part of who I am.

Nursing has been one of thehardest most challengingthings for me to arrive to andaccomplish. Although I stillhave not reached my RN, therewould be a symbol of it on mymonument. It is such a hugepart of my life and who I am. Ihave always known I wanted tobe a nurse because all I everwanted was to help others.

Among other symbols therewould be a symbol of handsholding on my monument.Not just to symbolize myboyfriend and I but, all myrelationships in life becausewithout all the people I havehad to hold my handthrough hard times, I wouldnever be who I am today.

Holding Hands

I would have the holy cross with ivywrapped around it on the very top of thefountain to not only show my faith but,to show that no matter where you are inlife and no matter how religious you areyou always have to believe in somethinghigher and more powerful than you orelse you will be lost in life withoutguidance and you will be tempted to feelbetter than those around you. The ivywould be there to symbolize fidelity,support, friendship, undying affection,and the trinity. This connects to me andreminds me of all the tough times in life whereI felt as if I walked alone, yet God carried memuch like in the Footprints prayer.

I would also be sure to have the Italian flag on mymonument because my culture plays a huge

part of who I am. I love cooking so I would havesomething depicting my love of cooking. This is a

very important family tradition taught from woman towoman in my family. I love traveling to Italy to bewith my family and take in everything the culture

hasto offer so the idea of travel would be represented

somehow. Around the base of the monument Iwould have pictures of me in different parts of mylife with those I love starting from birth to special

occasions to the older age. This is something theydo in Italy where you are left with an image of the

person who lies there rather than just a name. Thismakes the monument much easier for

others to connect to.

ITALIAN CULTURE

Lastly, I would have two sayings onmy monument and a prayer I havealways lived by. These sayings andprayers have been with me thepast five years of my life. Althoughthat does not seem like a big chunkof time thus far, they havemade a huge impact on my life.These messages are not only aconstant reminder to keep workinghard but, they are what I live bytoday. I would having somethingsimple like my name, date of birthand day of passing and thensomething like “still dancing…” onmy monument. I feel this leavesthe essence behind that even inpassing I am happy even in theafter-life and that the soul of thatwho has passed on still remains

thesame.

“Life is a mystery to belived, not a problem toBe solved” -Albert Einstein

“Live to the fullest, Laughat all the things that don’tmatter, and Love with allthat you have and more”

Although, my monument may sound extravagant I would not want it to appearthat way. I would not want it to be huge, and on top of a mountain somewherebecause I do not feel I am any more important than anyone else. I would wantto be buried around my family and friends to keep the idea in mind that we willalways be close even in the after-life. I would like to be around nature, abeautiful tree or garden and be as simple as the person I am but, truly showthe beauty of what I had in my life and offer others to find that same beauty thatI was able to have. I would want it to offer peace and hope to others and leavea positive message behind that others can take away with them as I have hadthe experience to do during my time at Spring Grove.

Ultimately, rather than being buried in a cemetery I love the idea of being buried near a waterfall, as near to nature and as far away from the craziness of life as possible. I would want it to be a place where people can come to relax and reminisce without the industrialization of society’s impact . It makes me think that one could return to the earth in the simplest way possible.

The End…That’s All Folks…

Thank You!!!