I Spent My Summer in the Cemetery. There, I Found Strange Solace.

Credit...Ian Kline for The New York Times

Mr. McGrath is a writer and a behavioral crisis responder.

In June, my family and I hiked out to a pioneer cemetery near Duluth, Minn., along the cascading Saint Louis River. The wall of trees opened onto a clearing that was studded with crumbling tombstones and strange, squat obelisks. “Why are we here again?” my 9-year-old asked. She has auburn hair chopped at the jawline and believes fervently in magic. At her question, my 14- and 16-year-olds sighed and cast their gaze skyward, in a way that conveyed the great depths of their filial respect. They had heard my answer many........

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