Confessions

Some will find this idea “out there”, but we’re rolling it out anyway to test the waters. With the cremation rates rising, we get a lot of requests for garden memorial ideas. We are partnering with Grotto to bring cremation memorials to families that desire a unique lasting tribute.

Grotto provides a way to memorialize loved ones by blending some or all of their ashes with a mixture of white cement, river stone and light sand, making stone statues, planters or other items for the home and garden. The process also can be done with pets.

Helen Tribby had no choice about whether to cremate in July 2001 when her 37-year-old son, Thomas Tribby, died in the fire that destroyed her house.

But when her daughter, Lesa Tribby Barbrey, was ill, she made her preference known. Barbrey died March 24 at age 38.

She didn’t know anything about Grotto before her death, but when her mother, her daughter, Jackie Tribby, and her friend Jolene Doman visited Found and Sons last month, they learned about the option of creating a lasting and portable memorial.
“I thought that would be great,” Helen Tribby said. “We could have her home with us like always.”

With Grotto’s process, Tribby was able to create a memorial that included ashes from her son, her daughter and her infant granddaughter, Samantha Lee Tribby.

Family and friends gathered March 29 to take part in creating a planter–the item the family chose from among dozens of Grotto offerings. They added the remains to the mixture and then saw it all poured into a mold.

It takes three to four weeks to produce each item. Statues generally cost $400 to $1,600.

In addition to having a constant reminder of her loved ones, Helen Tribby liked knowing she could take them with her if she ever decided to move.

“This way, if you have to leave, you don’t have to worry about leaving them behind in a cemetery,” she said. “So many people get left behind.”

Sweet sweaty night at the ballpark. No liquor or fried food touched these lips. That’s a first time experience for this girl. Springfield Cards crushed the Midland Rock Hounds, full house, lots of beautiful explosions, old friends and one incident that ruffled my feathers.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but while waiting in line for at the concession stand (had to get a snack for grandmother) the National Anthem began. Service stops, you turn and face the flag. Simple. I look around, because I hear harumphing. The young girl next to me, looks annoyed. Perhaps her feeding schedule has been interrupted? She whips out her cell phone and starts texting. Hey, it’s a free country, text on sister.

But I had to bite my tongue. Standing next to me was a member of our Greatest Generation. A military wife who moved coast to coast with four children in tow while her man was overseas.

After the game, this beautiful woman turned to me half-way through the fireworks display and asked, “I guess the ball game is over?”

Several years ago she told me that turning 80 was the worst. Everything is falling apart and it’s all been downhill. I can see it.

Grandmother, I salute you.

George Washington, 6’3, built, and athletic. Graceful dancer, dignified war hero…but that powdered wig……and maybe not the best dinner partner, very quiet and not much to say. But he was one of the most successful businessmen in Virginia.

He had plenty of slaves to keep the plantation productive, and was said to be a good master. It wasn’t until the war years when he led a racially integrated army of African American soldiers when he started rethinking his views on slavery.

He never spoke out publicly during his administration as commander in chief. In the summer of 1799, six months before he died he drew up his will, in his own hand and stated that upon the death of his wife all of his slaves would be freed. Slaves that were too young or old to be independent should be supported as long as needed. The young were to be cared for until age 25 and be taught to read and write. The will was published and circulated around the country. To a nation that was not yet ready for the message.

Source: Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founders Different by Gordon S. Wood

In 1776 Ben Franklin was 70 years old and suffering from a variety of ailments. Unlike the younger founding fathers, Franklin was 26 years older than Washington, 29 years older than John Adams, and 37 years older than Jefferson. He had half a century on Madison and Hamilton. Talk about a generation gap, he lived longer under British rule and was more deeply committed to the British Empire.

After spending the past two decades living in London, he was bitterly disliked by his fellow commissioners and viewed with suspicion by many Americans back home, some even thought he might be spying for the British. His son William, the former royal governor of New Jersey, was a notorius Loyalist, was under arrest in America.

But the French loved him, and he was able to persuade France to support our cause.

Franklin returned to America in 1785 and died five years later. Washington’s published eulogies numbered in the hundreds, Ben Franklin received only one public eulogy delivered by Franklin’s arch enemy Reverend William Smith (he was assigned the task by Jefferson).

France honored Franklin with a eulogy by Mirabeau, delivered in the French National Assembly, published it and declared three days of mourning. By contrast, the U.S. Senate refused to joining the House in endorsing a resolution honoring Franklin.

Franklin’s image improved after the release of his Autobiography in 1794, and Americans finally appreciated the patriot and scientist. They discovered that Franklin had been a symbol for their cause, a self-made man and a shaper of his own destiny.

Our destiny.

Source: Revolutionary Characters, What Made the Founders Different by Gordon S. Wood