Find a Grave Brings Family, Living and the Dead, Together

Website Draws People Together to Honor the People in Their Lives

Do you know where Humphrey Bogart is buried? How about Nathaniel Hawthorne? Better yet, what about your great-aunt Bessie on your mother’s side? If you cannot answer these questions, then you haven’t been to one of the hottest sites on the Internet, Find a Grave, or as it is known to those who frequent the site, F.A.G.  Not only will you be able to find out where Bogie’s resting place is, but you will find a whole community of people who share the same common interests as you.

With a name like Find a Grave, you would probably expect to find nothing but celebrities. But that is not the case. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, soldiers…they are all among over twelve million names listed from all over the world, although a majority of the names do come from the United States. The people who enter names are called contributors and stroll through cemeteries around their cities and counties, writing down names and taking pictures of the headstones. They later enter this information in the Find a Grave database and upload photos of the headstones.

But Find a Grave isn't just a site for the dead. This site is also for the living. People go to the discussion forums to discuss everything from current events to sharing a good joke someone sent them to asking for prayers when they are going through a difficult time. The support that everyone offers each other, people that they have never met in their lives, is overwhelming, surprising and wonderful. Ask for a prayer if you are going through a difficult time and you’ll have dozens of people praying for you and offering support. Leave a post saying that someone near and dear to you died on a particular day, people will visit their memorial page and leave virtual flowers. Celebrate your kid’s birthday or a great report card and they will celebrate with you.