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An experience I had a few years ago,
straight out of The Twilight Zone, took place in Weyburn, Sask., Canada,
when I was looking for the burial site of my ancestor John Henry
Benning. The cemetery was quite large and was divided into three
sections. I started looking in the one closest to me, on the right side
of a pathway, checking the stones and taking photos of ones I felt might
be family members. I then moved on to the middle, and by far the largest
section, but was quite dismayed as to how fast the time had zipped by
while checking the first part. As it was, I had an appointment with a
cousin in an hour and it was at least a half hour drive to her house in
Yellowgrass. |
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Disappointed,
because I really wanted to find John's grave, I began to
babble incoherently, saying things like `Oh for Heavens
sake John, show yourself, I don't have all day'. Then,
realizing just what I had said I quickly backtracked and
said `No, don't bother, I didn't really mean that'.
In desperation I decided to try and find some sort of pattern in the cemetery. Knowing approximately the year I was looking for I stood in the middle of one of the rows and began to survey the dates on the stones. To my right were some dates, behind me were others, but nothing made any sense. The burial sites didn't follow any particular design and I decided that the final resting-place of my ancestors would, at least for now, remain a mystery. If only I had more time! I was quite disappointed, but time was not on my side so I decided to call it a day. Just before leaving, I glanced down to my left -and there they were. I had been standing beside the graves of John Henry Benning and his wife Maria Katherine Killian all the time!!! |