One of the first things Pastor Susan heard about when she moved from Ohio to the mountains of North Carolina was "Decoration Day."1 She had no idea what that was, but she knew that she would be preaching for two Decoration Days within a month. In her attempt to learn more about regional customs, she visited the local library and discovered an array of informative books.

Over Our Dead Bodies and Tarheel Tombstones and the Tales They Tell were humorous as well as interesting reading, and Susan gained insight into our collective wit as well as our never-ending faith. I would like to share some of her findings with you. One epitaph she discovered reads:

He got a fish bone in his throat,
And then he sang an angel note.

Or how about this one:

She was not smart, she was not fair
But hearts wi…