A Tiny Grave

 

The gravesite of Mary Caldonia Craig in the Old Smithville Cemetery in Southport, NC.

In the sprawling cemetery of towering granite headstones, you could easily overlook it. Simple and unobtrusive, the marker on the gravesite of Mary Caldonia Craig is a compelling reminder of her short life. 

"Our Baby". In a short span of only eight days on this earth, something afflicted Mary Caldonia Craig and she couldn't overcome it. In 1893, the medical profession had no means to battle illnesses that today are easily dispatched with a round of medication. The loss of a baby was an all-too-often occurrence.

Life is fragile, and we sometimes bear unimaginable heartbreak on our journey. Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare. The Craig family, their friends, and their community carried on - they had no choice. There were perhaps other children to care for, jobs to attend to, other people depending on them; life goes on despite our miseries. People go through the motions, even when they are saturated in grief and agony. It's a part of the human experience, one shared throughout the ages. 

Little Mary Caldonia Craig passed from this world on April 15, 1893, only eight days after she arrived. Her grieving family placed this memorial to her with the poignant inscription, "Our Baby". And those of us that see it today, nearly 130 years later, know this: Mary Caldonia Craig's life "was but a vapor", but she was here, and she mattered.