More Grief to Bare

The news that the headstone of a local family's loved one was removed without their knowledge has brought heartache and pain to them after closure had finally been reached. Now, the alleged actions of the manager at Richwood Memorial Gardens has reopened old wounds and has now caused the family to experience even more grief and pain from their loss. We know that it takes time for families, occasionally more time for some families to completely get over a loved one's death, as the one individual family would like to place their trust in, is the one who buries their loved one. They also want to be certain/sure that ALL of the details have been taken care of so they can be at peace after saying their final goodbyes, which is usually at the gravesite. The final act for families is the placement of the headstone, no matter how it is shown at the grave as a reminder that, that is where their loved one is at rest. Can one imagine the pain, hurt and grief a family will experience when members of that family go to pay their respects, only to find that the headstone has been removed? The first question that comes to mind has to be why that act was done, especially without the family being notified. The pain comes quicker than the answers. More often than not, the answer seemingly always gets back to money. But the family insists that the headstone was paid for without the mention of paying for "installation fees" on the grave. Family members said that there was no mention of an installation fee, verbally or in writing. But other headstones had been removed, as Richwood manager Keith McDough said that installation fees "must be purchased" from other places besides from them. In the case of this particular family, it was $75, perhaps a small price for some, but the pain and hurt that it has caused this family, far exceeds the cost. A legal remedy may be the solution to bring about closure that as far as the family was concerned was achieved. Now, an alleged act done that perhaps could have been avoided by a simple phone call, has instead re-open wounds that were finally being closed to being healed. Instead, the removal of their loved one's headstone has only brought more grief for the family to bear.