July 2021
Its been one of those days. It started out this morning when my phone rang and I was barely awake. Trying to sound normal, I croaked a ‘good morning’ and heard the lady from the headstone company. Without hesitation she informed me that the granite for my husband’s monument would not be in until next year. It was delayed yet again because of Covid-19. It would no longer ship from China but this time it would be coming from India. I wanted to scream.
The stone was ordered over a year ago (March 2020) and we paid fifty percent down on it. We were told at that time it could take three to six months for the granite to arrive. This particular granite was important as it would be next to our son’s stone and needed to match perfectly. Now with the labor shortage, limited containers to ship the granite and the ships piling up in California waiting to be unloaded all contributed to the fiasco.
I just want my husband’s stone in place. I just want it done and final closure. I don’t think that is asking too much. I told Mary, from the monument company, that I definitely want a stone by Memorial Day. She answered with a resounding ‘yes’, that it would be in place. Somehow, I was not reassured.
April 2022
We are still waiting for the headstone to be delivered. The granite arrived and they are working on it. The promised delivery is before Memorial Day of this year. It is now over two years of waiting for closure on this item. My son’s headstone was done within six months but with Covid-19, a disrupted supply chain and sparse work force, my husband’s got caught in the cross-fire. I keep driving be the cemetery weekly hoping it has arrived. Nothing yet.
Thursday, May 12, 2022
I drove out to the cemetery today and Gary’s headstone has been set. Seeing his name just makes it so final. It sits next to my son’s stone, and I stare at them both, the reality really hits home that 2/5’s of my family is occupying space in the local cemetery and how truly alone I am. I will never hear those voices again. I will never hear their footfalls in the house again and I will never have my phone ring again, look down and see their numbers. It’s over and the scab is ripped off my heart again.
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