"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time."

― David M. Eagleman, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
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"What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash." ― Linda Ellis

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I started "cemetery hopping" (as my mom called it) with my mom and other family members when I was a child. I remember wondering about many of the people who were no longer living.. who were they, what did they do in their life, how did they die. That wonder never went away. I still "cemetery hop" but now I also clean and photograph headstones. I've also been involved with repairing and resetting headstones. Most exciting is probing and finding a headstone that hasn't been seen for many years. I've been a member of Find-A-Grave for over twenty years but really started getting active with it in 2018. I am very active in creating Memorials, research, connecting family, editing, adding photos, bios, and as mentioned earlier, cleaning headstones and photographing headstones to add to Memorials. I have taken over management of many Memorials, many in my county, and I add to each one. I also contact cemeteries all over the United States for locations of burials so I can request photos be taken and added by volunteers for Memorials. I like to find photos of the person to add to their Memorial because although this site is called Find-A-Grave, it's the person that matters most not their headstone. I feel everyone is living their dash and if I can find more about the person who has lived their dash and is no longer living then I will add it to their Memorial. With old Memorials, I will include their cause of death if mentioned. I am a board member of our local historical society where I have access to many old newspapers with obituaries and sometimes a story written while the person was still living. Although many have said Find-A-Grave isn't about genealogy, I personally think it has become that and I am happy to be part of it by doing what I do for Find-A-Grave.

Lisa Ruble
01/06/2024

"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time."

― David M. Eagleman, Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
--

"What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash." ― Linda Ellis

--
I started "cemetery hopping" (as my mom called it) with my mom and other family members when I was a child. I remember wondering about many of the people who were no longer living.. who were they, what did they do in their life, how did they die. That wonder never went away. I still "cemetery hop" but now I also clean and photograph headstones. I've also been involved with repairing and resetting headstones. Most exciting is probing and finding a headstone that hasn't been seen for many years. I've been a member of Find-A-Grave for over twenty years but really started getting active with it in 2018. I am very active in creating Memorials, research, connecting family, editing, adding photos, bios, and as mentioned earlier, cleaning headstones and photographing headstones to add to Memorials. I have taken over management of many Memorials, many in my county, and I add to each one. I also contact cemeteries all over the United States for locations of burials so I can request photos be taken and added by volunteers for Memorials. I like to find photos of the person to add to their Memorial because although this site is called Find-A-Grave, it's the person that matters most not their headstone. I feel everyone is living their dash and if I can find more about the person who has lived their dash and is no longer living then I will add it to their Memorial. With old Memorials, I will include their cause of death if mentioned. I am a board member of our local historical society where I have access to many old newspapers with obituaries and sometimes a story written while the person was still living. Although many have said Find-A-Grave isn't about genealogy, I personally think it has become that and I am happy to be part of it by doing what I do for Find-A-Grave.

Lisa Ruble
01/06/2024