Saturday, March 14, 2015

Finding Jenny Lake

I have a really good friend that I have known since I was in 7th grade. She is one of those friends who you don't have to see often, but as soon as you are together, you pick up right where you left off.

 
We haven't lived in the same city for many years but we still keep in touch. When I told my friend, Kathleen that I was coming to Johannesburg she told me that her Great-grandmother, Jenny Lake was buried here.
She told me that Jenny and her husband came to Johannesburg as missionaries in 1907 with their 7 children. Jenny died several months after arriving in Johannesburg. Her husband John G. Lake co-founder of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa.
I promised Kathleen that when I came to Johannesburg I would look for Jenny's grave and take some pictures. It's been a year now that we have lived in Johannesburg, and every time I pass a cemetery I remember that promise I made to Kathleen.
I kept telling myself, someday......................
 
Well, today was the day
 
 I printed a photo of Jenny's tombstone, scribbled down the directions to the cemetery,
which by the way,
there are nearly 35 cemeteries in Johannesburg
 and Jenny was buried in the Braamfontein Cemetery, which is less than 4 miles from our house.
 
 


As we entered the cemetery we quickly realized, that even though we had a plot number,
 it wouldn't help much because none of the plots were marked.
We drove around the cemetery with no idea where to begin to look
I asked Bruce to let me out of the car and he continued to drive awhile
It was a beautiful day.
Not a soul in sight
 
 
I wandered through the cemetery,
praying to know where to find Jenny's grave.
Bruce eventually parked the car and joined me
 
 

As we wandered through the cemetery the thick bed of leaves crackled under our feet
 


It was so peaceful, not a soul in sight, just Bruce and I wandering between the tombstones, stopping every few feet to read a marker
After awhile,
Bruce and I headed off in different directions
 

Bruce came across this section of the cemetery where firefighters and police officers had been buried
 
I wandered aimlessly until I came to this child's grave
 
For a moment I was excited as I noticed that this little grave had a plot number on it
But as I continued to walk I realized that none of the other graves nearby had numbers and this number was not even close to the number I had for Jenny's grave
 
 
After about 20 minutes of wandering directionless, I looked out at the huge cemetery and thought "How disappointing it would be if I couldn't find her gravesite"
Just then I remembered that I had other photos that I had not printed that Kathleen had emailed me.

 I don't usually have access to mobile data on my phone but today I just happened to have enough data to allow me to check the photos in my email. Kathleen had not only sent photos of the gravesite but she had sent a photo of a plot map of the cemetery. I don't even remember seeing that map before.
 
 

 
 I quickly found Bruce and together we studied the map.

Then I noticed another photo on my phone that showed what the side of the road looked like that lead to Jenny's grave

 
It just took me a minute to find this gravesite next to the road and I began to run 
straight to Jenny's grave
 


 
Bruce was so sweet he pulled the weeds around Jenny's gravesite.

As we walked back to the car we realized that our car was parked just a few yards from where the Gravesite was located.

Like Kathleen says, "There are no coincidences"

So grateful that I could do this for my friend Kathleen,

It really was a beautiful day!
 
 

4 comments:

  1. Dear Melinda and Bruce,

    What another truly amazing adventure we have had together. The very first thing that I have to tell you is that I have NEVER seen the photo of the plot map OR the road side! I sent you a couple of photos of the headstone but THAT was ALL. I rechecked that "sent email".! Thank you Bruce for so kindly caring for the grave and removing the weeds. I am completely stunned at the moment just having read your story.

    Much Love, Kathleen Lake

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  2. The photos were in the email you sent from the "find a grave" website. There were 4 or 5 photos in that email but I had not looked at all of them until we were at the cemetery and I was getting discouraged.

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  3. Yes, they are on the link, but I had never seen them until you posted them here.

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  4. very interesting. such a great day. I know Jenny led us to her grave.

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