A slightly macabre question.

[nitrah55]

As you may recall, my mom passed away in early June.

She had had the foresight to purchase a stone for her grave some years ago, but only had her name engaved on it. We reckoned that the reason she did not put her birthdate on it was she didn't want people to know her age.

Anyway, after the funeral, we arranged with the funeral director to hire a stonecutter.

I visited the cemetary Sunday, and saw the stone: Mom's name on the top line, and this on the bottom line:

"Oct. 8, 1917 - June 8, 2008"

Problem is, she died June 2.

My brother was aware of this, I learned yesterday. The funeral director admitted someone other than us screwed up- the written instructions clearly say "June 2." The funeral director said this has happened in his experience only once before- and that was for his father-in-law's stone.

Anyway, the funeral director says they will "repair" or "correct" the mistake, and if we are not happy with the results, he will get a new stone, correctly engraved, at his (or the stonecutter's) cost.

This is a risk-free situation, assuming everyone does what they say they will, so I am, at this point, just a bit bemused by the whole thing.

My question is, has anyone else had any experience with someone trying to "correct" something literally set in stone? What do they do? Does it work? Does it last?

[MarleysGh0st]

My question is, has anyone else had any experience with someone trying to "correct" something literally set in stone? What do they do? Does it work? Does it last?

No experience there, but the genealogist in me is glad that they included her date of birth and hopes that the date of death is corrected, however that can be done.

[Bob Juch]

My question is, has anyone else had any experience with someone trying to "correct" something literally set in stone? What do they do? Does it work? Does it last?

No experience there, but the genealogist in me is glad that they included her date of birth and hopes that the date of death is corrected, however that can be done.

I didn't know there was a genealogist in you.

I've seen headstones with the burial date instead of the death date. That may have happened in this case.

[MarleysGh0st]

I didn't know there was a genealogist in you.

A hobby that has fallen by the wayside in the past several years.

And the most distinguished ancestor I've been able to trace in my family tree has been an 18th century Danish county tax collector...

[Here's Fanny!]

My question is, has anyone else had any experience with someone trying to "correct" something literally set in stone? What do they do? Does it work? Does it last?

They fill in the 8 with something (Miracle Putty!), let it harden and then re-cut. Once they'ved carved the new number, if the difference in colour is noticeable or the edges not sharp, they would replace instead.

(I think they actually fill it in with ground bits of the same type stone and epoxy, but I bet Miracle Putty would do the trick as well.)

[Bob Juch]

I didn't know there was a genealogist in you.

A hobby that has fallen by the wayside in the past several years.

And the most distinguished ancestor I've been able to trace in my family tree has been an 18th century Danish county tax collector...

We could be related through your Danes. Mine went to Normandy in the 800s.

[Billy Mays]

My question is, has anyone else had any experience with someone trying to "correct" something literally set in stone? What do they do? Does it work? Does it last?

They fill in the 8 with something (Miracle Putty!), let it harden and then re-cut. Once they'ved carved the new number, if the difference in colour is noticeable or the edges not sharp, they would replace instead.

(I think they actually fill it in with ground bits of the same type stone and epoxy, but I bet Miracle Putty would do the trick as well.)

GREAT IDEA, BUT IT'S MIGHTY PUTTY®!!! DOESN'T ANYBODY EVER LISTEN TO ME!?!?!?!?

[nitrah55]

My question is, has anyone else had any experience with someone trying to "correct" something literally set in stone? What do they do? Does it work? Does it last?

No experience there, but the genealogist in me is glad that they included her date of birth and hopes that the date of death is corrected, however that can be done.

I didn't know there was a genealogist in you.

I've seen headstones with the burial date instead of the death date. That may have happened in this case.

One, that's not what we asked for.

Two, she was buried on the 7th.

I think Mom's stone just came at the end of a tough day for the stonecutter.

Which reminds me of a deplorable pun:

Mrs. Gutzon Borglum saw her husband sit wearily at the kitchen table.

"What's the matter, dear?" she asked.

Mr. Borglum answered, "I just spent all day on Mount Rushmore trying to finish the inside of George Washington's nose. It didn't go well."

"I'm sorry you had a tough day at the orafice."