For the past six years, Joanne Leigh of Topping and her grandchildren have decorated forgotten graves at Harmony Grove Baptist Church at Christmas time. The family tradition began in 2019 when 7-year-old Kyler Congleton of Topping was in the playground at Christmas time at Harmony Grove Baptist Church near Topping when he noticed some graves in the cemetery did not have flowers and others did.
A few were decorated, but so many had nothing. “Why?” he asked his grandmother — Joanne Leigh. “Well, they died a long time ago and they don’t have any family left, because they have all gone to heaven,” she replied.
And so a tradition began that continued this year as Christmas approaches. Leigh brought three of her grandchildren Sammy, 6; Skylar, 9; and Kynsley, 8, of Wake to decorate graves this month. Their parents are Matthew and Mary Ovaitt.
“They kept asking me how old the graves were,” said Joanne Leigh, who the children call “Nana Jo.” Nana Jo explained to her grandchildren that some markers are so old the inscriptions could not be read.
“They were glad I asked them to help this year and want to help again next year and for Christmases to come,” she said.
When they ran out of flowers Sammy asked me if they could get more flowers. “I explained that I wished we could decorate every old grave,” she said. “We try to put flowers on different ones each year. The kids laughed and ran through the graveyard and had a great time.”
