FRANCIS SCOTT KEY

FITZGERALD

SEPTEMBER 24, 1896

DECEMBER 21, 1940

HIS WIFE

ZELDA SAYRE

JULY 24, 1900

MARCH 10, 1948

“SO WE BEAT ON, BOATS AGAINST

THE CURRENT, BORNE BACK

CEASESSLY IN THE PAST.”

–The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda are buried in the Fitzgerald Family plot in St. Mary’s Churchyard Cemetery in Rockville, Maryland.  When F. Scott died in 1940, the church officials denied him the right as a lapsed Catholic to be buried in the churchyard, so he was buried in the Rockville Cemetery down the road. When Zelda died, F. Scott and Zelda were buried in the churchyard after the church officials had rethought their position.

The afternoon I was the there the sun was setting behind the gravestone, which was littered with votive candles, booze bottles—empty and full—trinkets, toys, journals, pens, and pencils.  And tucked in with the memorabilia strewn on top of the grave ledger, was a note, a moving tribute to F. Scott and Zelda:

“In high school.  He is no longer here plagued by loss and depression and leaving this earth at age 39.  I was 15 when I first read Gatsby, and it made me think and feel in similes and metaphors that I‘d never before considered.  My mentor…encouraged me to write and to study literature in college and I did. 

Tragedy struck me when I was 22, and I was unable to truly process or write for many years. I found it too difficult to feel.  But still, in the quiet moments I found myself reaching for the books and authors who made me, me.

I’m 32 now and some things have changed, and yet others have not.  Perhaps I’m not the author I’d dreamed of being, but I’ve endured.  I’d like to hope that one day, I’ll write the book I’ve been wanting to.  You were both writing at my age, and I am amazed by your words.

It is with love that I say that I’m so sorry that your lives didn’t treat you fondly at times and that you didn’t live as long as you should have.  The world is cruel at times, and it seemed to favor despair with you both.

Please know that your impact is perhaps bigger now than ever and that you have not been forgotten, you, and Ernest, and Gertrude, and all the rest. 

Words can last forever and stand the test of time, and I thank you profoundly for yours.

Love always,

…”

The note is a more moving memorial to the Fitzgeralds that a gravestone could ever be.