The ‘Signs of Regret’ next to a D.C. cemetery

Happy Monday, DMV. It’s Nov. 2.

Several years ago, I read on the PoPville website about a 2016 art installation in D.C. by Brian Levy called “Signs of Regret.” The installation is next to Glenwood Cemetery and based on “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying,” a 2011 bestselling memoir by Bronnie Ware about insights she’d gained from working in palliative care.

I’d long wanted to see the signs and thought the period leading up to Halloween and the Day of the Dead would be the perfect time.

I emailed Sam Freund — a Daily Dose reader who lives in Brookland and has told me he’s game for interesting outings — and we set a date. I also emailed Brian, who put up the installation, to invite him. He couldn’t join, but when I asked him if he had updates about the signs since putting them up, he replied:

“Signs are still there! I put up the Signs around 10 years ago after reading a summary of the book that they came from (there’s a little explainer onsite), no updates since I put it up,” he wrote to me.

“I lived out there for a while overlooking the graveyard, and thought they were a thought-provoking ode as folks walk along the alley by the dead.”

The signs are on a fence along the western edge of the Glenwood Cemetery. Sam, who joined me for the stroll, said he had passed them before but assumed they were just road signs. It’s easy to overlook them.

The visit piqued my curiosity, so I checked out Bronnie’s book. I’m a little over halfway through. It is a sweet read and resonates with me. She used to work in banking then decided it wasn’t for her. She leaned into an itinerant lifestyle, detached from possessions, and became a palliative caregiver.

I enjoy sharing time (in the book) with Bronnie and her clients. Their conversations get at the essence of a good life — which is the oversimplified way I’d sum it up in a nutshell. She shares the wisdom her clients imparted to her in their final days.

Below is the view of Glenwood Cemetery through the fence across from the signs.

Sam and I went around to the cemetery entrance and took a brief walk inside. It was a peaceful spot for reflection.

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Capital Weather says: Mainly sunny after a cloudy start, with highs in the mid- to upper 60s. Read the full forecast here.

Stephanie Sperling, 51, a resident of Chesapeake Beach, captured these images at the Chesapeake Beach Railway Trail located along Fishing Creek.

“I love how calm the water was on this particular night, like a mirror,” she wrote in her submission.

Also, I asked her what she’s reading. She said “Here One Moment” by Liane Moriarty.

Share your photos of autumn life in the DMV here.

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