The Evergreens Cemetery

Well, how do you write a fine review of a place where a family member is buried? Be
that as it may, the cemetery is huge but you can find your «stone» and I have to
say the set up for the Stone, a year after my brother’s death, was very fine.
It is a cemetery where many famous people are buried, including Leonard
Bernstein and Houdini, and I believe they have tours! You can reach
it by public transportation (before you may need to reach it for… l)
which is a plus. The only drawback, was that at the Gravestone setting,
airplanes, on their way to JFK? were constantly traversing overheard–
not very spiritual, but it is on the flight path. And even though it is
a ‘mixed’ religion Cemetery, they don’t do business on Saturday. Interesting.

This place is labyrinthine and huge. I got lost several times when I lived in Brooklyn and ended up in Queens =) It’s a rough day when you find yourself in Queens without knowing how to get out. (Ha! I’m kidding — I live in Astoria now and love it.)
Evergreens Cemetery is a good place to go running — everyone is just dying to get in. I have on my to-​do list that I need to break in at night and have some fun. You see, they close up at about 4:30pm or so, even in the summer, so if you want to go running here after work, try 7:30am instead, about the time that they open the Brooklyn-​side gate.
This is a place for the dead, so a certain degree of solemnity is of course required. However, others and I regularly ran without a shirt to soak up some sun. For a graveyard, this is a relaxed place.
I like the mausoleum — it reminds me a bit of Marie Laveau’s burial area in New Orleans. In fact, I like this place a lot. It’s wide open and spacious, the staff is friendly, and if you ever want to freak out some naïve girl, take her here. Or use it to get in shape. Recommended.

Recent visit was several days ago with my family for Ching Ming Festival 清 明 節, to honor and remember my Je4 Je4/​2 paternal grandfather and aa3 maa4 paternal grandmother. Despite of being in the winter season there is no landscaping which is disappointing; thus the four stars rating. This cemetery looks bland and unattractive although graves are clean.
Cemetery staff continuously drive around the 225 acres of land for round-​the-​clock security checks. It lies between the border of Brooklyn and Queens, despite Evergreens Cemetery’s century age, data burial records are digitized and updated online.
爺爺 Je4 Je4/​2 (Ye2 Ye5)
Grandpa, oh Grandpa
You lifted me with one hand at a mere 10 lbs.
At five months old I was playing with your thick bifocals
Which was, to be, the time of my life
Your elderly eyes delighted with immense sweet joy at my presence
Yet how young I was
爺爺 Je4 Je4/​2 (Ye2 Ye5)
Grandpa, oh Grandpa
Your long hardships endured to pursue the American dream
Paved the way for my grandmother, father, mother and myself to be here today
You bravely fought for America while station in Guam for four exhaustive years
And when the war was over like any Chinese immigrants became a business owner
Operating a laundromat on Gun Hill Road in the Bronx
爺爺 Je4 Je4/​2 (Ye2 Ye5)
Grandpa, oh Grandpa
You were the light that beam brightly in our family
Fallen but always able to stand up
My short lived time with you were robbed
Oh, what I’d give to be held in your arms here now– today as a woman