When we booked our site in Lindale Texas I was excited to see that there was a cemetery close and it looked as though it was fairly old with a lot of history. When we passed Sabine Cemetery on our way to our campsite and realized how close it was I was looking forward to spending some quality time there. Little did I know that the proximity to the cemetery would play a huge part in the story I am about to share with you.
The Beginning
The evening we arrived and got set up I look the couple hundred yard walk down to Sabine Cemetery. There is an old retired church on the property and a beautiful old metal gate at the entrance of the graveyard. I read all the historical markers on the church(click here for the history of Sabine Church) and made my way through the gate.
It was a small site and I just wandered around observing a little. I planned a whole other day to come and do my content and documentation. It appeared that other than a few family plots together that the oldest stones sat near the gate directly behind the church and spread back with the newest stones in the back.
I had done some research on the site and there were a few stones I wanted to find and possibly clean, one was of a 4 year old boy that died in the early 1900’s of tuberculosis. I located them and also the contact information for the cemetery administrator. There were several fairly old stones that were perfect for cleaning and I was excited at the possibility to do any or all of them.
After I explored the front section and found most of the stones I wanted to document later that week I decided to walk around the rest of the small site. As I approached the back I noticed a large black stone with lots of seasonal memorial decorations, and 2 benches in front of it. This isn’t an uncommon site, especially if the burial was fairly recent. As I got closer I noticed that there were a few photos that appeared to be a young girl.
I made my way over to the stone and from the moment I started observing it I knew there was a story to tell here. A 14yo girl was memorialized here. The large black stone covered with beautiful art, messages from her parents and siblings and 2 photos of a vibrant young woman that was no longer with us. I could not help but wonder what happened to her? It was very obvious she was extremely loved and someone visited her often. After a short time I moved along and headed back to our campsite.
My first visit to the site was on a Saturday evening. I planned to return mid week to record my content and then look into this young girls death. I told Kori about the large black stone with the young girl on it and for the next couple days I could not stop pondering what story would be found. Every morning 1 by 1 I would walk the dogs down the road and look over at the cemetery. A few days past and then I had one of the most interesting encounters since starting to visit cemeteries.
Wednesday morning I took off with the first dog for a walk. We walked down the road and as we got to the cemetery I could see someone over at the black stone I could not stop thinking about. There was also a black SUV parked by the gate. I kept glancing over to see if that person was actually at that grave. My curiosity was messing with me. It would be very disrespectful to bother someone while mourning a loss, maybe I could wait near the car. I had a very strong desire to speak to this person that I could not shake. I decided to finish the dog walks and if they were still there then I would decided if and how i was going to approach them. I finished with dog 1 and moved on to number 2. The person was still there for the whole walk but appeared to be getting ready to leave. I decided that if it was meant for me to talk to the person it would happen on its own. I finished dog number 2 and started off with dog 3.
As soon as I got to the road with dog 3 I could see someone getting in the vehicle and I had a sinking feeling that I had missed my chance. Most traffic in the area went the other direction on the road, we saw very little traffic past our location. Much to my surprise when the SUV left the parking lot it started driving toward me. I planned to smile and wave and go on with my day. As the SUV approached it slowed down and rolled down the drivers side window.
The woman inside had obviously been crying, she softly said “You have beautiful dogs”. I said Thank You and had to ask her about the headstone.
“Were you over at that young girls headstone?”
She said “Yes, that is my daughter. I was changing out the decorations for Easter. She always loved those big plastic Easter eggs, so I bring them for her every year.”
I was speaking to Delayne Voyles, whos name was on that headstone to eventually be laid to rest besides her daughter Karrie Ray Voyles.
I expressed my sorrow for her loss of such a young girl and asked her if she she would share the story of what happened and allow me to share the story with all of you. She said she would be happy to tell me the story and thought it was wonderful that I was willing to share it also.
Next week I will share the story of Karrie Ray Voyles as told to me by her mother on the side of a backroad in Lindale Texas after a chance encounter…………