Do witnesses visit loved ones grave sites?

NotaNess

Curious about that one. Were visiting my wifes family in New Orleans this week, and she brought up going see her relatives graves. If they do how does the experience differ from a non-witness. If anyone has experience on the subject, I appreciate you thoughts. (if Im missing punctuation, its because Im on my phone posting, sorry)

bigdreaux

i don't think there's anything against it. you said you'll be in new orleans doing this, alot of people ,even witnesses, come here to see the cemeteries. they are known around the world. the older graves here are above ground, and most are works of art. so, in answer to your question, i know they do visit them, but, i don't think they are supposed to "talk" to them.

sspo

In 3 decades as a witness i have never seen one visiting the dead.

They just don't have time, they need to knock on doors and save lives.

changeling

I love cemetaires! Especially very old ones.

changeling

brinjen

In 3 decades as a witness i have never seen one visiting the dead.
They just don't have time, they need to knock on doors and save lives.

Ditto (except the three decades part)

blondie

Older jws tend to visit gravesites, if only to make sure the headstone hasn't been tipped. Actually, I don't know many non-jws (younger ones) that make a trip to the graveyard to visit friends and relatives. Usually only on Memorial Day to clean up the site after winter has wreaked some havoc on the plastic flowers. Most people in general are too busy and tend to live in the present and for the future, not in the past. There is always cremation and keeping them on the mantle or in the garage, which I know several jws have done.

Blondie

quietlyleaving

My husband and I (he's a dub - very zealous, an elder too) have started visiting his dad's grave with his non dub mum. We've been planting fresh flowers and have discovered another 2 relatives buried in the same graveyard - so we've taken those on board too. We don't pray for the dead or anything like that though. Its very peaceful and enjoyable.

ShirleyW

I know of bro who visited his wife's grave after she passed, and my "pious jw mother" said, Oh, I don't know if he should be doing that! like it was her business to govern another persons grief! However, needless to say, he's remarried now, wonder if he drags the knew wifey to the grave, or I bet he's probably like "Joan who??" now, the woman who birthed him two kids is probably just a brief memory, if that !!!

Jim_TX

From personal experience - I think that the only time my family goes to the graveyard where my dad and other relatives are buried is when they need to 'plant' a new one. My oldest sister passed on around '96 (or '98), then my mom - then one of my other sisters.

Each time, I get the old 'we need to put up permanent markers' speech. I have repeatedly told my sister who is supposedly taking this project on that I'll contribute - just let me know. Well, she hasn't - yet. I have a feeling that she won't, either.

So - they allow those metal markers - the kind that can get pulled out of the ground, stolen, or lost - to be placed as markers. The groundskeepers change every so often, and do not know who is buried where... they don't have a reliable map of the place.

Regards,

Jim TX

Hortensia

not long before my JW mother died, my husband and I took her on a trip with us and one of our stops was the little town where she was born and her grandfather was buried. We spent half a day looking for his grave, she really wanted to find it and was glad when we did. After she died, I visited her grave a couple of times, mostly to see where it was (she was cremated so we didn't go to the cemetary after the service) and to check on the headstone. It's a couple hours drive from here and I don't really have any reason to go back and visit it again, and anyway I'm not a JW and the thread is about JWs. Got sidetracked there.

Do witnesses visit loved ones grave sites?

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