Across the street from where my daughter lives in the Cincinnati upscale community of Montgomery, is a Catholic cemetery. At the front gate of the cemetery is a large wooded sign that states “Newly Remodeled!!”

Now, I had never thought much about what the remodeling of a cemetery might entail. In fact, I had never thought that a cemetery might need to be remodeled. But, there it was, newly remodeled.

I was tempted to go in and check out their remodeling job but since I didn’t know what the original cemetery looked like, I wouldn’t notice the improvements. And, since I doubted that the occupants complained about the place, I concluded that it must be the visitors who requested the upgrades.

For starters, there is a large berm at the entrance which cuts down on the road noise. I imagine that when the cemetery was first constructed, the area was rural and serene. But, with all of the highway growth in the area, the road noise probably increased dramatically. So, a berm separating the road from the cemetery would cut down on the noise.

At least, I think that the berm is for noise but I suppose it could be an Indian grave site. After all, that is what those large berms are at the Gerald R. Ford Museum.

Another thing that I noticed is that the roads have been freshly paved. I don’t know if the old roads were dirt or paved, but they are definitely paved now.

I also noticed that some new trees and shrubs have been added to the landscape. It also looks like there is new sod around the entrance as well as some new flowers.

Finally, there are new shrines for the patron saints and Mary and Jesus. After all, these are what makes a Catholic cemetery a Catholic cemetery.  Is there a patron saint for cemeteries?  If there is, I am sure that this place has a statue of him/her.

I wonder if they have a place for protestants in there but some how I suspect that the answer is no.