One of the defining characteristics of humankind is that we care for our dead.
In ancient Egypt, beloved people who had passed on were buried in elaborate ceremonies with their favorite possessions around them. Today in the U.S., we try to give everyone a respectful resting place that will stand the test of time.
Cemeteries are naturally solemn places where we go to honor those who have passed before us.
Unfortunately, not everyone respects sacred ground. All too often, cemeteries end up vandalized by bored teenagers or others looking to stir up trouble.
No one should be treated that way, in life or afterward.
Fortunately, one young man is taking a stand after visiting his uncle's grave in a local cemetery, and finding the whole graveyard totally destroyed. This man is making sure that vandals don't get the last laugh.
Check out his incredible hard work in the photos below!
A young man took to the photo-sharing site Imgur this week to post a heartbreaking story a family gravesite.
When he arrived, he was shocked to discover that the cemetery was totally unkempt and run down.
Worst of all, many of the tombstones had been destroyed, like the one pictured here.
It's hard to know for certain what happened to all of these graves, though it looks like it might have been vandalism.
If we had to guess, we'd say someone knocked these gravestones down deliberately, just for kicks.
Most of them have been knocked clear off the memorial plaque, and are just lying sadly in the grass.
Some were picked up and propped up in a halfhearted attempt to fix the damage. The man noticed straight away that none of these people were being treated with respect.
The young man wrote in his post: "I was shocked by how poorly this place was maintained. The grass wasn't cut. Tombstones were knocked over, there was trash everywhere."
Looking around at all the memorials representing fathers and daughters, soldiers and children, he realized he couldn't just leave them like that.
He wrote: "How could people just be careless? I felt like I had to do something. So I went home, grabbed some caulk and a lawn mower."
He came back and started lovingly tending to the neglected graves, to the best of his ability.
There's no way to know how these people or their families would feel about the vandalized graves, but at least one person is willing to protect their memory.
He noted: "[I] just started cleaning this place up. I didn't know a lot of these people that were buried, but I figured their living family members would appreciate it."
The man added, "I never really knew how heavy tombstones were, but it felt like it was the right thing to do."
He carefully mowed the wild grass, and used caulk to fix the gravestones into place again.
Charles Webster's stone, one of the last ones fixed that day, is now perched proudly in the graveyard instead of being knocked flat on the grass.
Last of all, he went to his uncle's grave, which was the whole reason he's come to the cemetery in the first place.
Not only his uncle's tombstone clean and respected, so are all of his neighbors'!
We have a hunch that, somewhere, this fellow's uncle is very proud of him.
To watch the incredible restoration of a historical cemetery, be sure to watch the fascinating video below!
And if you think we need more young men like this in the world, please SHARE his good deed on Facebook!
