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In 1997, Shannon Applegate was bequeathed a small cemetery in western Oregon. The neglected five acres were not only the burial site for generations of her family but also the designated resting ground for many in the nearby, down-on-its-luck logging town. Living Among Headstones chronicles the author's experiences as sexton of this sacred land: she finds herself plotting graves, consoling families, and confronting the funeral industry.
Filled with humor, singular events, pathos, and unexpected smiles—and written in a meditative tone that is beautifully complemented by dozens of photos scattered throughout the text and by lovely watercolors by the author's sister—Living Among Headstones is more than a memoir of one woman's experience at a rural cemetery: it is an expansive look at how death has been treated through the centuries, and a meditation on how we long for our loved ones to have a continuing place in our world. Ultimately, as the author and we learn, only an understanding of death can give us an appreciation of life.
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