This Easter I rejoice more than ever in the empty tomb and the promise of Resurrection! I am, however, not going to write about this sacred tomb. Rather my thoughts are leaning toward a different burial site, one that bears my own name along with the name of my sweetheart.

Mark loved to read and together we accumulated a large collection of books. This was, however, not the Mark that I first met. Growing up I could almost always be found with a book in my hands. During the winter months of Colorado I loved to sit next to our fireplace (or even on the floor by my electric heater) and read. During the summer I think I spent every afternoon “laying out” in the sunshine while reading and reading and reading.

What a surprise to fall in love with a man who, aside from scriptures, had only read one other book cover to cover. This book was about a mortuary. His plan at this time was to become a mortician. Now that I have worked with an excellent mortician I can see that Mark could have also excelled in this profession. I am sharing this because I think that this early interest in the business of death may have been the source of his desire for a large and showy headstone.

Truly – this came up in conversation for 37 years. To know me is to know that I didn’t want anything of the sort. I wanted a normal headstone with meaningful words. Mark wanted a statue or a mausoleum or whatever would stand out. I told him we would just have to see who died first. He teased me often about the statue he would erect in my honor – with a catchy phrase such as “Keep the body, I’ll be back for the gold” or some other charming expression of remembrance.

The mystery is solved, Mark died first. Knowing that I will see him again I thought it best to get him a cool headstone – somewhere in between our two wishes since it will be mine as well. I will share it in a moment but first I will tell the story of seeing it for the first time…. The monument people called to tell me that it has been installed. I wasn’t feeling well that day, but figured I was well enough for the drive to Spring City. I was so excited! I think that it is beautiful, just as I hoped… except for one thing. It is so big! I had no idea! I had seen this style in other cemeteries but I guess they had large headstones around them. I thought that this particular stone came in a smaller size – and I thought that I had ordered the smaller size…

I turned into our little cemetery and whoa… you cannot miss this! There is nothing small about this stone. I absolutely love it but I am not exactly comfortable with the size.

Of course my kids have grown up hearing Dad talk about his final resting place. After seeing it Greg and Jackie solved the mystery, “Mom, obviously you ordered a medium… but when you left the store Dad stepped in with his heavenly eraser and changed it to a large!”

That guy!

I am sure he is smiling.

Have you ever thought of your headstone and what you want to include? Talking about this now will save a lot of trouble later. Later when you cannot really think straight. Maybe this should be one of those things that you wait a year to arrange… except that I wanted it set in place before the year was out.

Symbolism…

I loved the 3D effect on this stone. It features the Los Angeles California Temple where we were married along with our marriage date. Mark’s side has waves carved because he loved the ocean and lived to surf when he was younger. Our courtship revolved around the ocean. My side has flowers – obviously. On the back we have listed our greatest joy – our children. To one side is the family crest that Mark designed so long ago. The other side features an eight-pointed star. This is an old Christian symbol that signifies resurrection and spiritual rebirth through Christ.

Words….

“Rejoice Evermore” is found on the back of our tombstone – by this I mean to rejoice in our Savior, Jesus Christ. The front epitaph says, “Our Parting Be A Moment.”

I hope that it is “but a moment”… it doesn’t feel that is going to feel like a moment. Maybe later it will, but not now… Anyway, I took this line from a song that we kind of enjoyed. I say “kind of enjoyed” because it is beautiful but so sad. We watched this video while it was played with live music on our Mediterranean cruise just weeks before we found that doggone pleomorphic sarcoma tumor. We had already discovered that Mark had non-Hodgkins lymphoma but were not yet sure what it would mean. Mark cried through this entire song. I cried because he was crying. I have not yet had the courage to watch it again, but I loved those words. Our Parting Be A Moment.

Here is the video – I hope that you will watch it and resolve to make the most of the time that you have with your spouse!!