Therapeutic Caching

[+nericksx]

Last Thursday my granny died. She lived in another state and she had been deteriorating for a very long time. The day before she died, we knew it would be just hours or maybe 1 day. So when I got the news by text from my mom early Thursday morning, it was sad, but not a surprise. Everyone in my family went ahead and went to work, including my mom, because there wasn't really anything else to do. We agreed that after she got off work at noon, I would come over and keep her company.

 

When I got over there she was making phone calls and my sister was over. After awhile the phone calls were done and my sister had to leave for an appointment. When all was quite my mom looked at me and said, "I know this is going to sound weird, I mean, tell me if this is really weird, but I want to go do a Geo. I just gotta get out of the house. I kinda want to do one in a cemetery."

 

So, I whipped out my PQ of nearby caches and found one at a cemetery nearby where most of the pioneer families of our area were buried. We drove over and found the cache in no time flat, then wandered around looking at the stones and marveling and the huge and beautiful oak tree in the middle of the cemetery. We sat on the little wooden benches and talked about... stuff.

 

We tried to find couple more in the area after than and came up DNF, so we went and had dinner together.

 

When I called to check on Mom the next day, she said she was doing ok, then bad, then ok again - as you would expect. She said that she had things to do to keep herself occupied, but that most likely she was going to go back to that cemetery because it was the only place she was able to find some peace in three days.

 

When we go out of state for Granny's funeral next weekend, I'm taking my GPS with a fresh PQ - because you never know when you're just going to need an excuse to get out of the house and find a peaceful place to be.

 

tl;dr: Geocaching in a peaceful place distracted my grieving mom for awhile and made her feel better.

Edited July 16, 2012 by nericksx

[+hunter-killer]

She is doing what SHE needs to do. Nothing weird or strange, every one grieves in their own way and there is no right way to grieve. What ever gets you through a bad time is the best you can do, then you move on in this game we call life. Enjoy every moment cause one day,,,well, you can't go on. The clock only moves forward not backward.

[AZcachemeister]

Cemeteries are meant to be places of quiet, calm reflection.

Sounds like you put one to good use.

[+St.Matthew]

I'm a mental health counselor by trade, and while I disagree with hunter-killer's assertion that there is no wrong way to grieve, what you and your mother did was very appropriate. I am sorry for your loss.

[+Ms.Scrabbler]

Times like that will always be in yours and your mother's memories. It will be something to fall back on when life gets hard.

[+jellis]

The ones I find Therapeutic are ones by the beach or with a great view. I could sit down and just stare out and forget about my problems for a short while.

[+geocat_]

Sorry about your loss but happy for your way to find some peace.

[+nericksx]

Thank you everyone, for your kind words and thoughts.

[+Snoogans]

One of the most peaceful and rewarding cache hunts among the dead that geocaching has to offer is Columba in San Fran. It was the talk of GW6. I heard about it so much, I had to see for myself.

 

I like cemetary caches that are respectful and well done. Especially if they have some history.

 

My father is buried in Arlington National Cemetary and the caching there was quite good.