This morning, as I was on my way to my local cemetery, the album “Revolver” by The Beatles popped up on my play list. Revolver, released in 1966, is heralded as a transition album for The Beatles as they developed into studio musicians versus the pop, rock and roll touring band of their early years.
The second song on the standard version of the album Revolver is Eleanor Rigby. The song Eleanor Rigby explores the life of a woman who has lived a lonely life and eventually dies alone.
Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor spends her days picking up rice after church weddings and waiting by her window for visitors which never come. In the end, at the end of everyday, she is alone and lonely. No one ever comes to visit her. To be fair to everyone who might know Eleanor, maybe she not only shuts herself in, but she shuts everyone else out. There is a line in the song that mentions she keeps her face in a jar. I think this line describes Eleanor as hiding her real self. Behind a face that she puts on before exiting her door, her real face is hidden to all who would try to get to know her.
Can we learn from Eleanor Rigby’s hiding of her real self? Allowing others to see our true selves (including our own flaws) is important to gaining a support structure of close friends.
The saddest line in the entire song is when Eleanor’s death is revealed. Not only did she die at the end, but her name was buried along with her body. At her funeral, nobody came…nobody cared. Honestly, I think about this line quite often when visiting cemeteries. Loneliness is one of the saddest human emotions I have ever experienced. Those times in life when we are lonely and feel that we have no one to lean on and feel like no one cares about us are some of the saddest times in life. Many of us need “alone time,” but alone time is vastly different than being lonely.
As someone who visits cemeteries and individual gravesites almost everyday, I constantly think about the people who die lonely. Having a sense of belonging is important to us. We all need to feel that we matter in life, and even in death.
How sad would it be to live a life where no one attended your funeral, where your body was buried along with your name?
Our Lives Make a Difference
At her funeral, as the dirt is replaced into her gravesite, we realize that no one came to Eleanor Rigby’s gravesite service except for the Church Vicar. Father McKenzie buried Eleanor. He gave a sermon, but no one was there to listen.
As people who love cemeteries, we can make a difference. The purpose for you, as a grave site business owner, is to maintain cemeteries and gravesites as places of honor and respect for those people who are buried there. Your clients will entrust you to maintain the dignity of their loved-ones’ final resting places. Not only are you there to make the gravesites look good, you are also there to make sure the people interred are remembered.
Do you love cemeteries? Do you enjoy visiting the placid, hallowed grounds of your local cemeteries? Are you astounded that some cemeteries are allowed to fall into neglect and disrepair. If you are, then a Grave Care Business is perfect for you.
Our company has developed a professionally produced business course designed to help you start (and operate) your own Grave Care Business. This course will teach you practically everything you need to know to help you get started with your own business.
We are passionate about cemeteries and cemetery upkeep. It is our desire to elevate the care and maintenance of our neglected and undermaintained cemeteries. We are also passionate about entrepreneurs and people who want to start their own businesses. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Grave Care Business
You can order the course through this link: Grave Care Business Course. We will ship the material to you promptly via USPS Priority Mail.
Although I know she is a character in a song, I think back to Eleanor Rigby and I would love to be able to visit her cemetery, provide adequate grave care, and ensure she was not simply buried along with her name.
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