Thankful

This is my favorite tombstone. It can be found at a small graveyard on Gorwin Street in Holliston, Massachusetts.

It's my favorite, not because it is well preserved or beautiful. Not because it has a wise parting message for those still living. It is my favorite simply for one reason: the first name of the deceased.

This is the tombstone of Thankful Watkins, who died March 18, 1811, at the age of 71. Thankful is the sweetest name I've ever heard.

I did a little research tonight and found that she was the daughter of Henry Morse and Sarah Kebbe Morse, which created a pleasant connection to myself, living, as I do, on a street that bears her given surname. She married Andrew Watkins in 1756 at the age of 16, and became Thankful Watkins.