Today is my last day in Oklahoma. As you know, we interred Jean and my Dad on Saturday. Here are the last pictures we took as we were leaving the cemetery.
Since last night was their last night together, we decided to do something special to make it a memorable trip. The three of them are big Ghost Hunter fans, and are always seeing "ghosts" where there are none. The girls didn't know it, but we put solar lights by Dad monument. At 10 pm last night, Janice started by telling them of a dream that has bothered her for the last two nights, that Frank (our step-dad) had put a flashlight in with Dad's ashes, so that he could see to get out if he wasn't really dead.
Of course, the girls bought in to this tale big time. Our plan was to take them to the grave, then have them discover the lights and squeal in fright. We got there, and turned off the head lights. It was going perfect.... they saw the lights from a distance, and the squeals started. I dropped them off, including Janice, near the grave, then drove off. I went up a few streets and turned around. Here came three screaming young girls, and Janice all crying and screaming.
This was working better than we'd planned. They all piled into the car, and all four of them were crying and telling me this story, that Granny Jean's ashes had been removed and the door to her "slot" had been taken. Not sure if it was a joke on me or not, I went back to the grave. Sure enough, her vault was empty, and no faceplate to be seen. I became very upset, and of course, immediately decided it was one of Jean's kids that stole her body. I was also livid. Off we go at 11 pm to the Yale police station. They had me meet an officer back at the cemetery. He showed up, and was more upset than we were.
He was working his last day before vacation, and was taking his Mom's ashes back to California to put her in her final resting place. Back we and the police officer go to the police station. Janice is still hysterical, blubbering and crying (and sober at that). I finally had a brain break thru, and asked the police to get the home number for the owners of Williams Monument, the people that interred them both. I wanted to make sure they had sealed it up completely.
They located her number, but I couldn't get a cell signal. I had to drive a few miles to get a signal to call her. I explained who I was, and asked how everything had gone. She said fine. I told her I was at the police station reporting that someone had taken Granny Jean's ashes and faceplate. She finally admitted they had done it, cause it was not sealing properly. They hadn't replaced it yet due to the rain.
I have been in the same city as her, and it only rained Sunday nite. Oh well, that's another story. I asked why she hadn't called me, and she said they didn't want to add any undue stress to my situation, that they had planned on just taking care of it. I did ask her which would have added more stress to the situation, being told they were going to need to remove her ashes and faceplate for a day or so, or going out there at night with 3 grand kids seeing an empty vault, and involving the police.
Long story short, I went back and explained everything to the police. As we were heading home, the girls wanted to get the police some donuts, as they "know" that all policemen love donuts. We find a convenience story, buy donuts, and take them back. We came home, and it ended up being a "funny" situation. Dad would have loved it all.
That's the excitement for now. We're getting ready to go to the monument company, and discuss the situation face-to-face, and make sure they get it permanently finished before we leave.
As my family always say...... nothing is ever boring when Janice and Connie are together. For those of you coming over Saturday for dinner, Janice will have a new story to tell for entertainment.
Later.....
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