Thanksgiving has come and gone and on Black Friday we decided to go on an adventure, so my niece, Bree, her daughter, Payton, Auntie Rox, Brandon, Grandma Red and myself headed to Samaria.  Our initial reason for going west was to see Sherrie’s Cozy Cabin that Bree and Cam had stayed in, but while we were there we decided to take in the other sights, namely Heritage Square and the Samaria Cemetery.  

Heritage Square is a step back in time that reminds you of your Welsh and agricultural roots.  We called Luke and asked if we could just wander around.  He gave us permission and so we peeked in the Davis-Osmond Cabin, admired the other structures, tried to crawl through the mine replica, read the plaques and enjoyed an hour or so. 

Next, we went to the Samaria Cemetery specifically looking for Ben Waldron’s leg’s headstone.  We had heard about it but never found the resting place.  There was a cemetery directory that pointed us to Section 2.  We tromped around until we found it.  Then we googled the Ben Waldron story.  

After Ben lost his leg in a farm accident in 1878, he was still suffering horrible phantom pains months later.  At his request, the leg had been buried after the amputation, so he asked those who interred the appendage if they had laid it straight.  They couldn’t recall, so he insisted they dig it up to check it out.  They did so and found it to be bent and twisted.  “They straightened the joint, gently placed the leg back in its resting place, and according to Ben, he never felt so much as a twinge for the rest of his days.” (idahoheritagetrust.org; The Two Burials of Uncle Ben’s Leg)

Now, the interesting thing here, besides a person burying his leg, is that when Ben passed, he was buried on the other side of the cemetery.  That brought up an interesting discussion with Auntie Rox deciding she wanted to be buried in Samaria so come Resurrection Morning, she would have a front row seat to watch that leg find its way back to Ben.  It’s a Good Life when all your parts are together, and even if they aren’t you can still make it a Good Life, just ask Uncle Ben!