In the summer of 2013 my son and I went on
for me what was a long anticipated pilgrimage to Cooperstown N.Y. to visit the Hall
of Fame. I had been to upper state New York many times in the past but purposely
avoided the Schenectady area for remorseful reasons. On our return trip home my
son purposely steered me in that direction. In route we came upon the
Cooperstown farmers Museum on one side of the road and the Cooperstown Art
Museum on the other side. Now other than sports and beer my son and I
have very little in common. So as we were somewhat short of time we were faced
with this dilemma. On one side was the famous Farmers Museum where I easily could
have spent a couple of days blissfully wandering around. On the other side was the
famous Fenimore Art Museum with a sign promoting an exhibition “The Wyeth's: A
Family Legacy” And the fact that Andrew Wyeth’s painting “Christiana’s World”
is a personal favorite of mine which I have a large framed reproduction hanging
in my front room. So as Joe tersely informed me we could spend one hour there,
I opted for the Farmers museum as I knew Joe would consider that the lesser of
the two evils. That hour seemed like five minutes and I do hope to return there
someday with someone who will have similar interests.
Joe shortly urged me to get going as he
was firmly committed to see that I did not find an excuse to avoid doing
something that I often said my conscience wanted me to do. So we left
Cooperstown and headed for Schenectady and the historical Vale cemetery the
final resting place for a number of Lemp’s. I owe a debt of gratitude to my son for making
me do what I should have done may years earlier. I feel as though the visit
enlightened me and I now look at things much differently than I did for many
years.
My father Herman, his brother James and
Grandfather Harry have headstones or plaques there in their remembrance. James
and Harry’s wives are marked there also. But I do believe that Harry’s remains
are actually in Arlington National Cemetery. Vale cemetery today is in a sad
state of neglect and only gives a hint of what a beautiful and historic place
it was and is. I know I am rehashing some of the things that I put in a
previous blog call “semi-sentimental journey”
Below are a few videos and items that
better state the message I am trying to broach, better than my clumsy attempt
to make a point. The last one is the article that triggered my need to revisit
this subject.
