密歇根新闻广播 一对朋友想清理墓地却因此陷入麻烦

7,100 bodies are buried at the former Eloise mental hospital in Westland, near Detroit. But you'd never guess that from walking around the property.

That's because the cemetery¹, which was never meant to be a traditional cemetery, looks more like an empty field. But look down, and you'll discover rows and rows of cement markers the size of large bricks with numbers stamped into them.

"This person buried here is number 5,632," says Felicia Sills, as she gets on her knees and gently traces her finger over each number.

Sills grew up in the area with her friend John Byrnes. They'd heard about the cemetery growing up, but had never been there until last year. They were deeply moved by its poor condition and decided² to tidy things up—cut the grass, clean off the markers, and add fake flowers to the graves.

"This is really sad to me. This person was more than just a number," she says.

But that's all there is. Just a number. No name and barely any records to match a number with a name.

The people buried here were former patients at Eloise and were unclaimed after they died. Many of their families were too poor to afford a burial. So they were buried without much fanfare³ in what's known as a "potter's field."

"This is somebody's grandmother," says Sills. "This is somebody's mother. This is somebody's father, this is somebody's child that's buried here," says Sills.

Eloise was once a giant institution.

It opened in the 1830s as a poorhouse and farm, and it closed in the 1980s as a general hospital. In between it was many things, including a mental hospital and tuberculosis⁴ sanitarium. During its heyday⁵ in the 1920s it had 10,000 patients and 2,000 staff.

The staff there pioneered groundbreaking medical techniques, including the use of X-rays, kidney dialysis and electro-shock and psychotherapy.

Eloise patients played a big role in helping⁶ develop these treatments, says John Byrnes, "and to leave those people like they're nothing and nobodies is just heart-wrenching."

Byrnes and Sills wanted to fix the markers that were deteriorating⁷ or had sunken into the earth. So the friends came back, last spring and summer, and spent hours working in the field. Their friends and other volunteers joined them.

But when the owner of the property, Wayne County, found out, it told them to stop or they'd be arrested.

A county public affairs officer says this land was never meant to be a traditional cemetery. She says the markers can't handle exposure to the elements. The county also had safety and liability concerns with people working on their property.

So the two friends put their work on hold.

Now they're collaborating⁸ with a genealogist⁹ and are in touch with a non-profit called Friends of Eloise to come up with a game plan to present to Wayne County.

In the meantime, Sills and Byrnes hear from people with family members buried here who want their help.

Jennifer Dera's great-grandfather is buried here. He died at Eloise from tuberculosis in 1918 at age 31. His wife and sister came to Eloise to identify his body, but they didn't have the money to bury him.

Death certificate for Jennifer Dera's great-grandfather, John Knitter. He died at Eloise from tuberculosis.

"Just because you're poor doesn't mean you don't deserve the dignity of being marked and say, 'Hey, I was here. I was someone.'"

Felicia Sills and John Byrnes have another person on their minds lately.

Rachel Byrnes isn't buried here. She was John's Byrnes sister, and Felicia Sills' best friend. She died suddenly a few months before they began spending time at Eloise.

Sills says her friend's death is very raw and she needs to stay close to John and his family to remember her best friend.

John Byrnes says he didn't think of his sister when he was working in the cemetery. He says being out in nature just felt peaceful and good.

Both Byrnes and Sills say they're fighting for the dead, so that they will not be forgotten.

And they both admit, they feel like the dead are saying back to them: thank you.

1 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

4 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

5 heyday   

n.全盛时期，青春期

参考例句：

• The 19th century was the heyday of steam railways.19世纪是蒸汽机车鼎盛的时代。
• She was a great singer in her heyday.她在自己的黄金时代是个了不起的歌唱家。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

8 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

9 genealogist   

系谱学者

参考例句：

• Misha Defonseca acknowledged her bestselling Holocaust story as a fake after a genealogist outed her. MishaDefonseca在当一位系谱学者揭露她之后承认自己关于二战犹太大屠杀的畅销书是捏造的。