Peevish Pen

Ruminations on reading, writing, genealogy and family history, rural living, retirement, aging—and sometimes cats.

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Location: Rural Virginia, United States

I'm an elderly retired teacher who writes. Among my books are Ferradiddledumday (Appalachian version of the Rumpelstiltskin story), Stuck (middle grade paranormal novel), Patches on the Same Quilt (novel set in Franklin County, VA), Them That Go (an Appalachian novel), Miracle of the Concrete Jesus & Other Stories, and several Kindle ebooks.

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Shopping

Yesterday I went shopping for a new tombstone. My original one was stolen from my family cemetery on Nov. 10, 2007. Here's what it looked like the spring before it was stolen:


And here's what it looked like on Nov. 11, 2007:


 I really should have replaced it before now. But I kept putting it off. . . .

When my first tombstone was stolen, an article by Mike Allen ran in the Roanoke Times. Mike's editor who approved the story was Dan Casey, who is now a doggone good investigative columnist. A couple of years ago, I promised Dan that when I bought a new tombstone, he could go along with me. He'd never been tombstone shopping before. But I kept putting it off. . . .

But yesterday, Dan and a photographer met me at Add A Touch Monuments in downtown Rocky Mount.


I arrived before they did, so I checked out the styles that were available. Those black stones were pretty flashy, and I was tempted by the one on the left.

But a black one wouldn't coordinate well with the other stones in the cemetery. I looked around at some others. I decided to get the same size I originally ordered. It's to the left in the front row below.


Before long, Dan and photographer Jeanna arrived and we got down to business. The price of the tombstone had gone up about $200 since 2005 when I ordered the first one.


I looked at a lot of designs. I was tempted by a rose design, but I'd already had roses put on my mother's tombstone. I looked at tulips. . . 


. . . and then decided to get one exactly like the original. After I signed the contract, and handed over a check, Dan and I revisted my cemetery. We also listened to a recording of the Internet radio show where I was interviewed about the theft.

For Dan's take on the story, as well as some background information, see Casey's story, "Now She Can Rest in Peace." 

I should have my replacement stone in a couple of months. When it arrives, I'll blog more about it.
~


3 Comments:

Blogger CountryDew said...

I hope this one gets left alone. After the story ran in the paper, I learned that my closest friend was one of your students when she was 12 or 13. She said it was drama class. That would have been around 1972 or so.

8:00 AM  
Blogger Sally Roseveare said...

Great blog, and great story by Dan! You know me pretty well, so you can imagine what my mind is coming up with. Set up the security cameras!

2:52 PM  
Blogger R.M. said...

Glad you picked the same one - I really like it. Sorry you had to go through this, crazy, right? I've decided I'm not going to have one, ever. Going to have my ashes spread at my farm, which is where I want to be anyway.

12:01 PM  

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