Progress

The intermittent beeping of the tractor's back up alarm caused me to look in it's direction every few seconds. I was in no danger of being run over by the machine, but it was distracting as I continued my early morning walking tour of Memory Hills Cemetary. The franchise pharmacy under construction will be your view from the eastern side of this historic part of Milledgeville. The bright lights will probably make even a night tour possible when the store is complete. I could go on about the big chains taking over "mom and pop" businesses and changing the dynamics of an historic small town, but that is not the emotion I left the cemetary with that day.
Memory Hills is a really beautiful and interesting place. My daughter and I found headstones dating from the 1700's to 2010. The trees that shelter some of the crumbling monuments look even older. The money spent and care taken by relatives throught history for there loved ones final resting place is touching. The craftsmanship alone displayed by of some of the older monuments makes the tour worth taking. You get that "proud to be American" feel as you read the names of fallen soldiers from the Civil War to Vietnam.
But we could not help but notice how many of the older graves contained the remains of children. "John..son of Ezra..1yr.8mos. Sarah...daughter of Samuel...8mos". Many of these family plots held five or six children's graves. The determination of these parents to keep trying to have a family in the face of such sadness was humbling. How many survived? Did the mother die without ever having a family? Did she die "trying"? There were very few headstones of children from the 20th century and for a moment I thought that maybe we just don't try as hard as we used to.
It was then that the beeping from the back up alarm of the tractor caught my attention. As I looked down the hill at the future location of our newest and most modern pharmacy it hit me just how much times have changed. How many of these children would have survived with just the medicine we now sell over the counter. The simple medicines we take for granted and go to the doctor for something quicker and stronger! Fever reducers and infection fighters alone would have saved thousands. This does not make the view any better from the eastern slope of Memory Hills, but it does make me realize how lucky I am to have been born when I was.