Alicia 🍉 LadyTaphos

I'm bored today. Felt like plucking a nerve lol. So here I am showing off wrong information at the visitor center in Smith Mountain Lake State Park. It's been over 5 YEARS since I first contacted them about fixing this. I am super disappointed that absolutely no effort has been made to correct it because it is easily proven wrong. #speakup #honesthistory #tellthetruth #virginia #genealogy #history

Alas how changed the lovely flower Which bloomed and cheered our heart Fair fleeting comforts of an hour How soon we’re called to part #creatorsearchinsights #cemetery #graveyard #gravestonecleaning #asmr #beforeandafter

I just wanted to share a beautiful transformation with you. Hope you like it. #gravestonecleaning #beforeandafter

Little Jewell succumbed to diptheria. #creatorsearchinsights #asmr #gravestonecleaning #cemetery #beforeandafter #cleaning #transformation

I have been super in my feelings lately. Lost in my thoughts. Reflecting on who I am and how I got here. This video kept replaying in my mind. Preserving the memory of my aunt Hattie was so important to my granddad. He even saved her grade school report cards, hoping he could give them to her descendants someday. I can't help but think about how much he would have loved to be a part of this whole experience with me. Seeing Aunt Hattie's picture broadcast on GMA would have made him so emotional. But he didn't get the chance. My sweet granddad passed away on January 24, 2020. On October 3, 2020, the cemetery where Hattie is buried was the location for the Virginia stop on the first 48 State Tour. I met Jonathan Appell for the very first time that day. Inspired by him and his workshop, just a couple weeks later, I shared a sloppily recorded video on here and went mega viral in a matter of hours. I think it was only the third video I posted. Things sure were different on here back then, right? October 3, 2020 also happened to be my granddad's birthday, and it was the first one of my life that he was not here with me. I had absolutely nothing to do with the date selection, and when I was informed, I couldn't believe it. I don't believe in coincidences. I was deeply convinced it was a sign from my granddad. Maybe it was. And less than a year later, I was free from a toxic relationship, and Jonathan and I had fallen crazy in love with each other. He swept me off my feet and redefined for me what love is. Love heals everything. If it hurts, it isn't love. Anyway, I don't know why I'm writing this here other than it being on my mind. It seems I just can't keep locking things away inside my mind anymore, even silly stuff that doesn't really matter to anyone but me. So there it is. And you know what? I already feel better for doing it. Thank you for sending him and the whole world to me, Granddad. That day changed my life. I love and miss you always.

Jennie Matthews has been a huge challenge to research! Does anyone want to give it a go? I will say, it seems she might have been born in Buckingham County, Virginia, where there is a catastrophic loss of records. I keep digging for an obituary, but no luck yet. I believe her maiden name was Monroe. She also could have gone by Jennie instead of Jane. She married Thomas Matthews, and they had at least one son, James. #gravestonecleaning #asmr #clean #transformation #beforeandafter

Replying to @camjam543 Thank you for your kindness.

Per her obituary, Caroline Gills was very healthful and never sick. She was "just worn out." Three daughters and four sons survived her. One daughter, Emma Johnson, would tragically take her own life five years later. #gravestonecleaning #beforeandafter #transformation

Replying to @user4883732339228 The orange color is a good thing!!#greenscreenvideo #greenscreen #gravestonecleaning #faq

Adline's gravesite stirs up many different thoughts and feelings each time I visit her. There are countless unmarked burials in Fairmont Cemetery, but I can't help thinking she seems a little lonely down there all by herself. #gravestonecleaning #cemetery #asmr #transformation #beforeafter #creatorsearchinsights

I always enjoy a good urban legend, and there were tons in this place! I am always finding footage from the tour and other things to share. I should do that more often, huh? Also, side note...Mittie and I both have an Atlas Obscura article written about us. I loved that interview. Anyway. Random thought. #cemetery #gravestone #monument #story #48statetour #mississippi

Cleaned today. Georgia marble often looks great as soon as it's dry. It is easily identifiable by its characteristic large crystals. #gravestonecleaning #transformation #beforeandafter #marble

I've spent over three years patiently waiting to share this one with you. What do you think? It's been so long since I scrubbed it, I didn't even recognize myself when I was editing the video clips. It's crazy how much life has changed in the time I've been waiting for this stone to get clean. Lucy was never married and had no children. She was named after her grandmother. #gravestonecleaning #asmr #beforeandafter #transformation #cemetery

October is a big month for promoting the awareness of many different causes and missions. The first one on my mind today is for all of the parents who will forever mourn the loss of their little ones. I have always been drawn to care for the old graves of lost children, for so many were long forgotten after their parents left this earth. When I find one, I take a quiet moment to connect myself to the pain in their mother's heart which is still palpable in the air even after a hundred or more years. I cry (a lot), I pray, I whisper nurturing words. I do my best to honor their memories respectfully. Somehow it feels like sharing them with you keeps them from being forgotten.