Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn as a Community Resource | Page 6

Over 400 friends and family came to Nick’s funeral.
Bowdoin sent nearly 50 students and faculty in a tour bus,
and there were so many of his classmates from Lexington.
We had wanted to welcome anyone who also wanted to
The Barnetts lost their son, Nicholas, 18, a first-year student at
come to the burial, and over 200 people chose to join us.
Bowdoin College, in an automobile accident during Thanksgiving
We looked back down Route 2, and there were two miles
weekend, November 2007. Nick is buried at Mount Auburn, near
of cars in the procession to Mount Auburn; the state troop-
Willow Pond. Chris, an engineer, is a Vice President of Parsons
ers had completely closed off the road. I don’t know how
Brinckerhoff. Elizabeth, an urban planner, works for the town of
the Cemetery staff did it, got all those people in and out so
Carlisle, MA. (The Barnetts are not related to Mount Auburn
calmly. They just rose to the occasion. I was so touched, so
President David Barnett).
moved. It takes a lot of hard work to make things happen
seamlessly.
Elizabeth Barnett:
Now, I take a deep breath when I go through the gate at
t was such a shock to think about having to find a place
Mount Auburn. I feel from the moment I go in that I am
for Nick. It was like a train moving quickly: all of a sudden,
in a place of contemplation and reflection, a special, sacred
you have to make so many decisions.
place where people can mourn individually and collectively.
We wanted a place that was beautiful because we knew
The peace and tranquility are comforting. I feel that when
we would be spending a lot of time there. I wanted a place
I am in Mount Auburn, it is a com-
I’d want to go to. It was going to
munity. I am pleased that there are
become part of my life. I knew
people walking, sitting, reflecting—
that Mount Auburn is a National
that this beauty and this extraordi-
Historic Landmark, but it’s still
nary place is used the way it is. It
very much a cemetery of the 21st
makes me feel good that Nick is
century—and the future.
in a beautiful place and that other
My older son, Alex, had an
people enjoy it.
even stronger feeling. He said,
The day we picked out Nick’s
“Nick’s going to be dead longer
grave, there was this great blue
than he was part of my life, and
heron sitting there at Willow Pond,
it means a great deal to me that
watching us. I had never seen a
he be in a beautiful place.” Alex
heron inside the city, let alone in
is interested in architecture and
Cambridge. I love the wildlife, the
he knew about Mount Auburn
trees, the little Baltimore oriole that
from a horticultural design point
nests by Willow Pond, the red-tailed
of view.
Left to Right, Christopher J. (Vice President and En-
hawks…
gineering Manager at Parsons Brinckerhoff), Alexander
When we visited the Cemetery
We visit Nick’s grave at least
C., Nicholas J. and Elizabeth DeMille Barnett (Town of
to look at space, we had two vans
Carlisle Urban Planner) at the time of Nick’s 2007 high
once a week. All death is difficult,
full of people. My husband’s
school graduation. Photo courtesy of Barnett family.
but especially when people die
brother had just gotten off the
unexpectedly. At Mount Auburn,
plane from Chile, his sister and
people
have
extended
so
many kindnesses—I can’t live
brother-in-law had come from Germany, and other friends
long enough to thank them.
had come from Washington, D.C., just to be there for us.
Chris and Elizabeth DeMille Barnett
Lexington, MA
I
Jim Holman [Director of Cemetery Services Administration]
talked with us about different parts of the Cemetery where
we might consider graves. He brought up things that would
never have crossed my mind—“if you’re not social, here’s a
quiet place,” or, “here you’ll find other families who’ve lost
young adults.” Jim was phenomenal; there was no pressure.
His attention and care were just extraordinary. He acted as if
two vans of people looking at graves happened all the time.
Mount Auburn was a place where our family and friends
could mourn and be comfortable and they told us that.
They felt that everyone could go there and no one would
feel excluded.
4 | Sweet Auburn
Chris Barnett:
hat Thanksgiving when Nick died was a disaster.
Our families dropped whatever plans they had for the
holiday to come to be with us. We had the funeral as close
as possible to Thanksgiving, so Nick’s friends from high
school and his class at Bowdoin could attend.
It seemed like there was a succession of angels that came
into play, our funeral director in Lexington and then Jim
Holman at Mount Auburn. We ended up buying the first
plot Jim showed us, overlooking Willow Pond. It was fall
and the area was so beautiful. There was this big yellow
maple…
T