I received a call this morning in my capacity as president of the Georgia Monument Builders Association.
"I'm from Florida," the woman said, "and my sister replaced our parent's monument without informing me."
Apparently, her sister had replaced the monument for her mother and father without bothering to ask her permission, much less to even inform her! Obviously, she was "in shock," when she discovered this insult.
She stated, "daddy didn't even have a monument for (something) years." "My sister didn't think they should have a double monument since they were divorced."
Apparently, it was important enough for the sister to replace a double headstone with two single headstones since mother and father had divorced in the past.
So, what advice would you give in this situation?
"Ma'am," I said, hesitantly, "there are no good answers for you."
"You could sue the monument company, for the original monument, but they are out of business, and what would you do with the stone?"
"You could sue your sister, but that would just generate ill will."
"You could sue the church too, but you probably don't want to do that either."
"It must have been very important to your sister if she was willing to incur this expense. I would just let it go."
"I know," she said, "but I'm just in shock."
In my opinion, her sister handled this entire situation poorly. Family decisions require family consensus for family harmony. When one person goes off to unilaterally make decisions, even when well meaning, then the other family members have a right to be disappointed.
If faced with a similar decision, I hope you will do the right thing. After all, the right thing, is the right thing to do!
If you have thoughts you wish to share, please email me at Burton@USAMonuments.com and I will post select comments on this site. I thank you in advance for your contributions to improve the death-care industry, memorialization and honor the loved ones of grieving families. Burton Fletcher Owner http://www.usamonuments.com/
