The Fayetteville newspaper reported recently that a tombstone was found at a just-vacated rent house. The marker is of a woman who died two years ago. The rental management company phoned police. The Times’ print edition treats us to a photo of the flat marker.
Later in the week the Times reported it reached the family, who explained that stone had a wrong date and so was replaced. They were not the tenants, so the mystery of how the one with the typo got to this place continues. The implication of the continuing coverage is that it’s worth the public’s attention. Is this a big-M Mystery? And, do the clues point to wrongdoing, weirdness or just not much?
It’s not newsworthy. Don’t a lot of people have extra tombstones around the house? I do. It’s Dad’s.
Mine is not on the front porch like Martha Jo’s but in my carport. It’s been there about two years, while I figure where in the yard it should go. It’s too heavy to move here and there for sizing up, once I heaved out of my car trunk. I recently prepared a new garden bed for next spring; it’ll do. I think I can maneuver it into my new wheelbarrow for the journey.
Dad died 22 years ago last week. After my mom died three years ago, we middle-aged kids decided to set up a double marker in Fort Smith replacing Dad’s. I asked the monument company — that created the bench from the design of my architect nephew — what happens with a no-longer-need tombstone. It would get recycled: either to use as a base for someone else’s stone or broken into gravel. So I brought it to our Shady Hill manse.
The occasional workman or plumber never fails to remark on it; often they’re impressed by Dad’s military service noted on the VA-provided marker. It may creep out some neighbors but none have complained. Call the cops. -30-
