S2E17: For our fathers.

Day 17: Sept 26, 2023
Belleville, IL

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Jen’s father, Michael Schuetz, passed away on Father’s Day, June 20, 2010. My father, Abdul Hamid Hussain, passed away on Father’s Day, June 18, 2017. It’s another occurrence of similarity and coincidence that feels cosmic to us.

Today, we’re in Belleville, Illinois, where Jen spent most of her childhood. Michael was laid to rest in Walnut Hill Cemetery, an easy, short drive from Jen’s mom’s (Juanita) current residence. The three of us are here to pay our respects.

Everyone remarks that the pandemic timeframe transformed the last two to three years into a blur — neither Jen nor I can recall when we last visited Dad’s resting place.

Juanita brings a new seasonal decoration for Michael’s gravestone — swapping out summer for autumn. We each pitch in, arranging the faux flowers and cute owl adornment to withstand midwestern weather events. I notice the empty spot next to Michael’s details on the marker: a placeholder for Juanita. A future not yet written. It might strike some as eerie, but I like to read these tablets not only as monuments to people we love but also to appreciate the historical implications.

Adam and Helena Schuetz are close by, Jen’s great-grandparents, and likely the Schuetzes who immigrated to the US from Germany. The dates inspire awe.

Our next stop is Juanita’s side of the family, the Baileys. We visit with Leona and Robert, Jen’s grandparents. This is also where Jen learns for the first time that her maternal great-great-grandparents are actually Taylors, after Juanita points out a number of headstones bearing that name.

It’s a real-life family tree. Viewing these memorials spread out yet woven together is a map of people who came before us — we either knew them or never met them — and is the beginning of a lineage yet to be determined.

In my mind, I can see the roots and offshoots, growing deeper into the earth — the place in which we will all eventually return.