We were headed back to the car when this scene came into view. I was captivated by the lights, the signs, the brick and the mystery of what else lay ahead on this dead end Cleveland street.
When something like this catches my eye, it is hard to look away and keep moving. Unfortunately, we can’t follow every charming street and every inviting country road just because there might be something interesting to see.
No matter how tempting it may be to jump down yet another rabbit hole; we have to keep moving if we intend to get anywhere.
High on a hill overlooking Cleveland’s famed Lake View Cemetery is a memorial to President James A. Garfield.
Ohio is sometimes called the Mother of Presidents because seven US Presidents were born here including Garfield who was our twentieth. Born in poverty and in a log cabin in northeastern Ohio, Garfield was a lawyer, preacher, Civil War general, US Senator and member of the US House of Representatives.
His was a life of service and he used his power to advocate for civil rights for African Americans, to support an educated electorate and to fight corruption in the postal service. He was a pretty progressive guy for the day in 1881 and even for modern times.
In case you don’t remember your history, an assassin fired and struck Garfield twice – one bullet caused a minor wound to his arm and another went through his back, shattering a rib and embedding in his abdomen. He died months later after unsanitary methods employed by his doctors caused infection to develop and grow.
He was interred in another location in this cemetery until his memorial was completed about nine years later and his body was moved. Our tour guide said that Garfield’s wife Lucretia was instrumental in choosing the location for the memorial and in planning its design. She chose the highest point in the cemetery, giving her husband, the President, the highest resting place in the cemetery as he had once held the highest office in the land.
You ascend twenty steps to enter the heavy front doors. A larger than life statue of the twentieth president stands beneath an impressive light fixture with twenty bulbs. Awe inspiring stained glass windows represent each of the original thirteen colonies and his home state of Ohio. Each of these windows features a woman who is holding something that represents that state in her outstretched hands.
Spiral stairs give access to the crypt where Garfield’s flag draped casket sits next to that of his wife. Go up stairs to an interior balcony that looks down on the rotunda and also get a better view of the dome above. One more flight of stairs up will give you access to an exterior balcony with a sweeping view of the cemetery and downtown off in the distance.
This memorial is extraordinary both in appearance and in atmosphere. It feels sacred. At first glance, you might mistake this space for a church and the women of those windows as angels.
You can tell that Lucretia Garfield and whoever designed this memorial wanted to honor the man and his place in history while emphasizing the weight and importance of the US Government. Reverence and respect were paid here.
I hated to leave this place and have thought often about our time there. Garfield was both preacher and politician. He fought for what was right and died because of some things that were wrong with his world. I can’t help but wonder how our country might have improved and grown had he served his entire term rather than a few short months. Would the civil rights movement have advanced more? Would we be less tolerant of the lies of corrupt politicians?
If you’re in Cleveland, Lake View Cemetery is home to this memorial and to the graves of many other famous people. We didn’t get to explore here long but it was one of my favorite things in Cleveland. Learn more here!
I needed to make a store run after work last night but I’m not very experienced at just going and doing what I’m supposed to do. Instead, I go off on side quests and in search of something I haven’t seen before. On the way home, I stopped to appreciate the sunset and to listen to a chorus of frogs. It was was a beautiful and calming way to finish up the day.
In fact, it was exactly what I needed after a long week.
When packing for a trip, remember to always bring your sense of adaptability. I often use the phrase “when in Rome” to remind myself to cope when things don’t quite go my way. Yet, there are times it’s smart to cut bait and do something else.
We had a few of these moments in Cleveland when things simply weren’t enjoyable and there were other opportunities available to us.
For example, we visited the Arcade first thing Saturday. The city was quiet and parking came easy. The Arcade was almost deserted. My plan was to explore the surrounding area on foot and be at the library when they opened at 10 a.m. I have read amazing things about this library and was excited to see it for myself. By all accounts it’s much like an art museum.
We strolled and explored that vicinity, enjoying the early morning sunshine and the bits of shade we could find here and there. Then traffic began to pick up. The beep beep beep of a large vehicle and sounds of a jackhammer notified us that construction does not take a break on the weekend. Nor does the city’s homeless population, some of whom set up camp in the middle of the sidewalk and one who was shaving in a fancy mirrored sculpture in a park.
Some commotion down the street caught my eye as a clump of police, fire and EMS vehicles pulled in every which direction as people appeared to be scurrying away from whatever emergency was underway. Then I noticed the city’s police force was closing streets in the area. Did it have something to do with the officer who had been shot on the 4th of July?
We didn’t know and I was starting to question my desire to find out.
I expressed my waning interest in this neighborhood and Adam said “let’s go.”
So, we jumped in the car and found a gorgeous neighborhood of expensive homes along Lake Erie, their sprawling lawns and occasional gates providing a barrier between them and the unwashed masses of tourists driving by. Then we headed to Lake View Cemetery to look for the graves of Cleveland’s noteworthy and to explore the Garfield Memorial (the President, not the cat. More to come on this later).
Turns out, the two of us are happiest when left with the dead. I sincerely wish this were a joke but we do like our cemeteries.
After some exploration here, these two introverts were recharged enough to brave a bookstore and head for the Museum of Art where we drank in the beauty of countless treasures and oddities.
What’s the moral here?
We had a plan. That plan didn’t work out. We found something else to do and we were happier for it. I can go see the library another day. Or not. It will be fine.
Had we tried to force something that just wasn’t right, we wouldn’t have enjoyed the day nearly so much as we did.
It’s important to adapt to your surroundings and enjoy a place for what it is. It’s equally important to know when it’s really just time to leave. Master this and you’ll have a great trip!
Check back for a story about my favorite stop up there.
Someone at the Cleveland Museum of Art has a sense of humor. Zoom in on the picture and note the painting on the right. This woman appears to be giving the side eye to the sculpted woman in the middle who is doing the same to the painted lady on the left.
Look closer and you’ll notice the side eye being returned by the painted lady on the left!
These pieces are not part of a collection but they sure do go together. Evidently, women have been a little catty for a long time and some curator has great fun at work.
Heights scare me. To be exact, things that are attached to the ground and high scare me. Airplanes are fine. Ladders and balconies feel like death traps.
I hate this about myself.
Luckily, I believe that the presence of fear is an opportunity to be brave. So I often force myself to do things that push my own boundaries. For example, if I’m near a lighthouse, I have to climb to the top even if my body fears I won’t live to tell the story.
When faced with high places, I tend to talk myself through it, proactively giving myself a pep talk before I even arrive at that place. Then I stay focused on a point straight ahead or on a person in front of me, never looking down and attempting to pretend that everything is ok.
The other night, a hike after work found me on a familiar trail that ends with natural sandstone steps out of a gorge and onto floating wooden steps. Those floating steps are followed by concrete ones through a tunnel. I don’t know the elevation gain here but it’s a great workout.
By the time we made it up all those sandstone steps, I was already winded. That’s normal.
Unfortunately, I had failed to give myself that pep talk. Why? I don’t know. I don’t remember. Before I had even reached the first step of the floating stairs that freak me out so badly, I was already struggling to manage the fear.
Those steps are wooden and have open backs. You’re up high. Some of the wood feels soft and there’s one step with a chunk missing. These steps take a lot of abuse from massive amounts of people going through every day and I personally feel they aren’t safe enough.
Three steps up and I was starting to panic. In no time I was completely panicked and no longer just a little winded.
I could not breathe. I couldn’t catch my breath. I did not feel safe at all.
I did calm myself down and made it up those tunnel stairs without incident and without sounding like I was dying. I’m calling that a win even though those steps are easy. At least there’s a light at the end of this tunnel!
I don’t appear to have a picture of the scary steps – likely because I try not to dwell on where I have been or what I’m about to do!
There’s a lesson to be had here.
These steps are my arch nemesis but I can conquer them when mentally prepared. It takes just some positive self talk and deep breathing to keep myself calm. Just the tiniest bit of negativity or even a failure to focus can make all the difference.
While this is true of this specific situation, it’s true for all of life. If you think you can, you will. If you think you can’t, you don’t stand a chance. Things will come apart so fast with just a single negative thought to guide you.
Focus your thoughts inward and tell yourself what you need to hear to get the job done, to conquer a bad situation, work through a fear, and achieve your goals. It can work. I promise. It has taken me a lot of years to understand how but I can do it when properly centered. Figuring out how to recover from something like this is an important skill as well and it gets easier with practice.
What’s your fear? Do you have techniques for minimizing the control it has over your life? Can you recognize when you’ve reached your tipping point? Can you find your way back when things get bad?
You know why I sometimes force myself to do scary things in controlled environments? It has something to do with the old saying that practice makes perfect. The more I do it, the easier it gets – especially if it’s my choice to be in that scary situation in the first place.
I know what it’s like to be crippled with fear. It’s the worst feeling in the world and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I also know that some fears for some folks aren’t to be overcome and for that I’m sorry if my story today sounds like toxic positivity.
Here’s wishing us all strength and perseverance. Today is a new day. Let’s all just do our best, shall we?
