Last Ride

Summers during my collegiate years, I dug graves. No, I didn't like them, I actually dug them! I worked at the largest cemetery in the city and one of the oldest in New England. Over 5 years, I had lots of jobs. I pushed a lawnmower for 8 hours, ran a weed whacker, tooled around the acres on a riding mower, cleaned grave stones and many days rode around keeping the foreman company. But without a doubt, if you wanted the hours to race by, duty on the grave crew was the place to be. You see, since many of the sites were very old and unstable or a tight squeeze for the backhoe many of the holes had to be dug by hand. From marking out the site to getting the concrete vault into place took just under 4 hours. Was shoveling for 3 hours with a partner hard work? You betcha! We partnered up-- two shovelers in the hole at a time, 20 minutes or so at a shift. At the very end, when only your head was visible, there was only room for one of us at a time. When I 'rode' on the truck, I was the youngest of the crew and became the butt of many jokes. However, with all the stories tossed around by the old timers, some of the unique situations we faced and items we found, they were some of my most memorable days.
Could ya dig it?
I did!