Last week Julia and I went on a day trip to Little Rock, Arkansas, and one of our discoveries was Mount Holly Cemetery. It's a quaint, picturesque beautiful old cemetery, and we made the most of our short time while visiting there. This grave provided a harsh reminder how tough life could be in the rural South back in the 1800's. The girl on the right is Pearl Reed Basham. Her stone inscription reads, "Papa's Sweetheart, Mama's Pet. First Daughter of George and Julia Basham. Born July 22, 1880. Died November 7, 1886". She left this world shortly after her 6th birthday. Her Sister, Martha Parma Basham, is to her right standing next to their mother. Martha was two years younger than her sister Pearl. Her inscription reads, "With Sister Pearly. Papa's Baby, Mama's Darling. Second Daughter of George & Julia Basham. Born December 3, 1882. Died August 10 1887". Martha was almost 5 years old when she died, less than a year after her older sister "Pearly" passed away. It must have been just devastating for George & Julia; they had no other children. I imagine after losing their youngest daughter they didn't dare risk the heartbreak of having to bury yet another child, which has to be the ultimate horror for any parent. Not only did George & Julia have to do that twice, they were only nine months apart. But they both lived long lives for the time period. Julia passed on first, and George followed her just a few years later. The dirt lanes behind the statues are the original lanes upon which the carriage brought the little girls, and later eventually both parents to their final resting place reuniting them for all eternity. After all this time, you could still feel the grief that once played out at this location. I could see George standing there silently by himself after Julia had joined the girls, wondering how long it would be before they were all together once again. Probably looking forward to it. This is my 3rd post from Mount Holly. The previous photo, "Faith Everlasting" can be viewed right here. Make the most you can of today! marshall