By Delana Ringer

GALWAY–The tenth grade honors English class went to various cemeteries in Galway and to the Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville on Friday October 28th. At each of the five cemeteries in Galway, (Scotch Church, St. Mary’s, Stimson, West Galway, and Bliss Road), we worked in groups of three to four people. We had to, with our group, go to the cemetery we chose and find several different pieces including the oldest and newest gravestones. Then, after creating an outline, we acted as the “tour guides” for the class and pointed out things about our cemetery. At the Saratoga National Cemetery, we walked through the memorials to the bells and monument of names; then we walked around the gravestones for soldiers whose bodies had been never found, buried at sea, or donated to science. The trip was a part of our Human Continuum project which had started with the novel Tamar and was followed by an interview with a grandparent and an essay.

I enjoyed the trip and thought the tours of Galway cemeteries given by our classmates were very interesting because many people pointed out their favorite parts and gravestones of their cemeteries. Hearing the history behind the cemeteries and some of the people added to the emotion behind the tours. At the national cemetery, we were given free time to roam and explore a bit on our own. Walking through the memorial path, it hit us as to how many people had served in the military branches for freedoms some people take for granted, and we were very grateful for that.

At the end of the path, a bell from the U.S.S. Saratoga hangs, and it is almost like one of the many gravestones we’d looked at because of its rich history in the military during and post World War II. I learned about and further realized the invisible bonds that connect all people into a sort of human web. These bonds act as a part of the human continuum and connect us to people of the past, present, and future. These bonds illustrate the connections of all people and how events and people from past generations influence our lives today.