Mat Feltner, Nathan Coulter, and Jayber are working on landscaping the graveyard and telling stories to each other. Each headstone reminds them of another story. Mat tells the story of a Confederate soldier who was killed by a Union soldier as he was coming home. Mat pauses at the graves of some of his family and tells humorous stories about each. “I would listen while he talked, and while he talked the mute stones spoke” (218). Mat tells stories that date back to the founding of Port William where people still visited saloons and had pistol duels. Mat relates a funny story about his Uncle Ive Rowanberry and his sister Verna who had a falling out during the Civil War. Jayber enjoys the stories but goes off by himself to think. He ponders his 14 years as the town barber and six as the church steward. Jayber is overwhelmed with a sense of contentment with his life but also with the truth that loss and grief are unavoidable if one lives long enough. He sees the people of the community as a body of believers, imperfect and fallible but inextricably linked. Jayber considers what makes humans eternal and concludes it is their memory, love, and forgiveness toward one another.