Italian visit – part 4 – ‘the old resting place’

One of the first places I visited while in Ghemme was the village’s cemetery, which is a jewel of a place, for its architecture and layout.

Here I have the family plots that I wanted to spruce up for All Saints and Dead days on November 1st, and 2nd, since I would not be in town to share the annual commemorative ceremonies and traditional annual visits done at this time of the year.

It’s also a place where I usually like to spend an hour or so walking all along its peripheral arcades to view the tombs that carry names and pictures of people I used to know during my youth. It’s a peaceful and relaxing visit that brings back many memories.

The newest addition to this cemetery, is quite modern in style. Contrary to the old area where the internments are done in cemented chambers underground, here the single graves are situated above ground, stacked in drawer-like style.

The entire complex is kept spotless and full of flowers by daily visits of the town’s residents.

My family plots are kindly taken care of all year around by the same old school friend that organized the big annual luncheon I described in my previous post.

Here rest in peace my Italian ancestors, grandparents whom I lived with during WWII, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My mother is buried in NY, while my Father and his beloved brother, are interred in Tirana, after I was able to reunite their remains in 1995. My paternal ancestors and grandparents, instead, are buried in the mountain areas near Podgorica (Montenegro), where they lived and where, to date, I still have 4 generations of living cousins.

My Italian visit lasted only a few days, but, overall, I was able to cover a lot of ground while in the familiar areas of my youth and see all I could. Now am back in Tirana, for more work and other types of meetings.