The Memorialist: To Vase or Not To Vase - That Is The Question; Could A Self-Funded Perpetual Care Trust Fund Provide The Answer?

Author: Burton Fletcher
Publication Date: 2005-12

Dear Readers,

I need your advice. Should I recommend the purchase of a vase to my clients, as part of the memorialization process, or should I discourage this expenditure?

This is my quandary, as it personally saddens me to see an empty vase at a memorial. I probably should not externalize my quandary; however, I cannot count on those who know me to provide flowers at my grave. Is it expecting too much to expect future generations who never walked in my shadow or otherwise, to spend sums, great or small, on my behalf? Surely it is. We have no florists in the immediate family to bias my opinion on the need to provide flowers on regular occasions at the gravesite.

I suppose you may think it selfish of me to think that I could fund a trust for this purpose, just as a trust could be created to maintain my grave throughout the ages. Would I want to have the only well-kept memorial in the cemetery grounds? There might be some memorialization envy, if you know what I mean. It might create conflict in my family, presently, or in the future, for me to leave a sum, big or small, to maintain an, shall we say, “image” after death. Hmmmmmm.

Now, dear readers, I know that most of you are not going to create a perpetual trust fund for cemetery maintenance, though society would be better off if someone had created such a fund for our old cemeteries that have languished for decades or longer.

So, knowing the likely disrepair of graves, how can I recommend to my clients that they purchase a vase that will likely go unused? I will wait patiently for your replies with an open mind and gentle forbearance lest anyone be offended by my suggestion

About Burton Fletcher:  Burton Fletcher, with over 20 years’ business experience, owns USAMonuments.com.    He is a nationally published expert, frequently writing on monument building and memorialization.    He designs, builds, ships and installs across the United States and Canada.     Reach Burton at 229.245.8858 or e-mail to Burton@ValdostaMemorials.com for your memorialization needs.

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