Last fall I stopped at a rural cemetery in upstate New York to check on some ancestral graves. Finding one of them badly tilted, I later called a local funeral home, which arranged with a monument company to straighten and stabilize the stone, a service for which I, as requested, sent a check upon reported completion. A few weeks ago, again being in the area, I bethought myself of the injunction to “trust but verify” and stopped to see the stone. Unfortunately, I found it flat on its face.

Returning home, I called the funeral home and, speaking with their answering service, described my concerns. A few days later, I had a call from one of the directors. He apologized; he had spoken with the monument company, who advised that the person who had done the work was “no longer with them;” he had traveled to the cemetery, repaired and reset the stone. He believed that the stone would now remain upright but, were there further issues, he would return. When I mentioned that, of course, it had been a hard winter, he agreed, but noted that it was no excuse. He concluded with the remark that he “need hardly add that there will be no charges.”

What astonishing and rare rectitude in an increasingly tawdry world. Thank you, Mr. Harrison at Rasmussen’s Funeral Home in Narrowsburg, NY.

Judith B. Gray

Bowdoinham, ME