The Demon Stole My Pencil: cocktail

Happy birthday, Bonnie Parker! Bonnie Elizabeth Parker, the infamous gangster girlfriend of Clyde Barrow, would have been 101 today. Born in Rowena, Texas on October 1, 1901, Bonnie Parker was the daughter of Charles Parker, a bricklayer. When her father died in 1914, her mother, Emma Parker, moved the family to Dallas. At sweet sixteen, Bonnie married her husband, Roy Thornton, who was jailed for five years. They never divorced.

She met the true love of her life, Clyde Barrow, in January of 1930. The infamous crime couple traveled through Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Missouri, robbing banks, grocery stores, and filling stations on a bloody and deadly crime spree.

On Easter Sunday in 1934, two highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas were unlucky enough to check Bonnie and Clyde's car parked on the side of the road. Bonnie and Clyde opened fire, killing the law enforcement officers, leading up to the ambush on May 23, 1934 near their latest hideout in Black Lake, Louisiana. The couple died together in a bloody battle of bullets and were buried in their family burial plots in separate cemeteries in Dallas, Texas, destined to spend eternity apart -- a tragic ending to their steamy, fast-paced romance.

I visited Bonnie Parker's grave last weekend at Crown Hill Memorial Park. Someone had recently visited and left these silk flowers for her, though her grave isn't easily found. My husband, stepson, and I wandered for nearly forty minutes before we accidentally stumbled on a cemetery worker who directed us to her family's plot. I expected something a little bit more dramatic for such a fierce woman, not this flowery quote. However, her mother, Emma Parker, loved her very much.

Emma Parker is buried to the left of her daughter. They are the only two Parkers in the tiny family plot, which rests near some shady trees in front of a rambling hedge.

If you're going to visit, her grave is located through the gates on the right side, in the first section.

The grounds aren't very scenic. There isn't a lot of lush landscaping and trees are scarce. Most of the markers are plaques set in the ground. There are older graves, but not many of interest. I did find this one from The Spanish American War.