Not so long ago, weeks-wise, we went on a ramble to the midsection of the state, visiting a half-handful of communities specific to Stephen’s family.  The primary goal was to find a cemetery just outside the town of Gordon.

Though the topic of cemeteries has of late become ultra-grim (I had to finally put it to my brother that ‘disposition of the remains’ needed to be addressed), this excursion was for the pleasure of curiosity.

We did find our cemetery, demarcated fairly strictly: old and very old to the right of a small church, ‘recently’ departed on the left.  We were looking for and found the grave of Stephen’s Great-great-great Grandfather, Israel Fountain.  Lovely name.

Unbeknownst to us, a short distance to the left of the church, resting next to his mother, is none other than the infamous former Savannah resident Jim Williams, central in John Berendt’s ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’.

To me, cemeteries conjure up Act III of Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town’, where the souls sit in place and converse.  They seem to have access to their immediate vicinity only, so I’m guessing Jim Williams and Israel Fountain will never have the opportunity to gab.

One of the other nearby communities we visited on our jaunt through middle Georgia was Fort Valley, where my dearest friend Dee Matthews was born and grew up and is buried.  Nearby her grave, I found another, marker tipped over, which I righted after taking this picture.

I feature Mr. Muttart remarking, ‘What a nice gentleman!’