Insights - Mary Carson Irvine

Overall, I have really enjoyed this class. I loved our class discussions, and taking field trips was a great opportunity. I was so happy to go to Lee Chapel and see the museum, as I had never done that before. The trip to Stonewall Jackson Cemetery was very enlightening. I was really excited about the DC trip and despite the rain, it met my expectations. Although I had seen these memorials multiple times before,     seeing them in the rain and discussing them as a class made me understand them that much more. I think my favorite part was the Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Although I felt sad, I felt respect for those who were buried there and those who were honored at the tomb. 

To me, memorials and shrines are places for people to remember, honor and commemorate those who they have lost. Yes, of course, there are memorials for historical events, universal causes, etc. But the first thought that comes to my mind is that memorials and shrines are for the dead. When I visit a personal memorial, I feel really sad and wonder why that person had to die. However, that's what memorials do, they make you sad. They make you sad at first, but then make you remember the good times, the times you do not want to forget. Visiting a memorial brings about doubts, and questions as to why a person had to die and what their life would be like if they were still living. Although I loved this class, sometimes just class discussions made me think about all of those I have lost and I would get really sad just sitting in my chair. 

I think about memorials for those lost in my lifetime, especially the ones I knew, and how many different types of memorials  can exist.  My grandpa died when I was very young, I believe around 3rd grade, and therefore I do not remember a lot about him. However, I do remember sitting on the front porch of his house, where he would tell me stories of his childhood but also my dad and his brothers. I remember being at his funeral, an open casket, staring me in the face. This raises the question in my head, is a funeral technically a memorial? I mean, they are called memorial services for a reason, right? I think about one of my best friends whose mom died from breast cancer when we were still in elementary, or another one of best friends who lost her dad to cancer in middle school. I think about girl from my middle school soccer team whose dad committed suicide our senior year of high school. I think about a boy who committed suicide also during my senior year of high school, who I didn't know personally but still felt the grief. Finally, most recently, I think about my family's friend who was killed in Afghanistan. Thinking about all of these deaths, makes me realize that could have been my mom who died from breast cancer or my dad who died from cancer or committed suicide. Or that could have been my brother who died in Afghanistan. The class had made me think of all of these things, and reflect. I think about all the different kinds of memorials, whether it's a funeral service, a gravesite, a roadside shrine, or even a moment of silence, a song, a picture, or just a memory in your head. Then I think are all of these memorials really effective? In my opinion, yes. Although memorials cannot take back the past, erase memories, or change the future, they are effective in being a place to express feelings and emotions, whether they are joyous or sad. They are places or ways to honor the lost, work toward moving forward in your life, but never forgetting. 

I'm also very curious to the forms of international memorials, which we have just recently started studying. Is there really a difference between a memorial and a shrine? How to people from other countries view memorials and shrines? What do they think about the way we memorialize? 

Overall, no matter what culture, country, origin, race, gender, or age, everyone memorializes in someway. 

-Mary Carson Irvine