A short walk to the bottom of our hill joined us up with a large crowd of Jane’s Walkers who were gathered to enjoy Gene Domagala’s tour of the 35 acre cemetery. Many of Toronto’s earliest citizens are planted there. We know 7 occupants who went in more recently.
Gene struggled to be heard over the traffic noise on Woodbine but things got better when Councillor Mary Margaret McMahon came up with a megaphone. We heard about accomplished professionals, saintly clerics and once-powerful politicians who rest beneath the stones. Many children filled graves during the Spanish Flu epidemic in the early 1900s and many soldiers are buried there, from many wars.
One of the most interesting monuments is shaped like a lighthouse. A surviving husband marked his wife’s grave with it, saying she had been the light of his life. Apparently, about 2 months after her mortal light went out, the husband found solace in the arms of another woman.
May 5th was the evening of the super moon… when the moon is closest in its orbit to Earth, looking unusually bright and big. It’s also our wedding anniversary. Perfect place to celebrate, eh?