Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Memorial Displays
I am saddened by the lead story in today's News & Record. The story says that Guilford Memorial Park will no longer allow families and friends of the deceased to leave items in tribute around crypts anymore.
I could understand the need for this policy if the cemetery were full of tacky displays or looked trashy, but that has never been a problem. I live nearby and have visited that cemetery many times, so I know.
I will bury my grandmother at Guilford Memorial Park very soon, perhaps in the next several days. I doubt I will leave any written tributes or displays in the mausoleum, but I would never deny another person the right to grieve in that way.
A spokesman says it has always been the cemetery's policy to limit displays to flowers placed in attached vases, and they simply have decided to enforce that policy. The cemetery was founded by my great-grandfather 70 years ago, and I am not aware of any such policy during his tenure there.
He had more respect for those who passed and those they left behind than the current owners.
I could understand the need for this policy if the cemetery were full of tacky displays or looked trashy, but that has never been a problem. I live nearby and have visited that cemetery many times, so I know.
I will bury my grandmother at Guilford Memorial Park very soon, perhaps in the next several days. I doubt I will leave any written tributes or displays in the mausoleum, but I would never deny another person the right to grieve in that way.
A spokesman says it has always been the cemetery's policy to limit displays to flowers placed in attached vases, and they simply have decided to enforce that policy. The cemetery was founded by my great-grandfather 70 years ago, and I am not aware of any such policy during his tenure there.
He had more respect for those who passed and those they left behind than the current owners.
