Step 3-b: Create a Family Cemetery

Some of the highlights in the process of creating a family cemetery included:

My sister obtained a copy of a land deed that included a family cemetery on it. She used that as a template and fashioned our deed revision after that one.

We modified the official property deed survey to include the location and GPS coordinates for a family cemetery.

The county tax office had us jump through a couple of minor hoops, submit a letter and then accepted the new survey with the family cemetery addition.

Bottom line: we saved huge money on cemetery property and created a legacy in the form of a family cemetery we could love and eventually contribute ourselves to. Recall that a legacy is something Dad wanted. Most important, creating a family cemetery allowed dad to begin to express his own creativity and discretion regarding his great exit.

In fact, the collaboration on details and possibilities might even have been fun were it not for the constant grounding provided by repeatedly grappling with my dad's mortality . Ironically, dad seemed to come alive during this operation.

Dad appreciated our resourcefulness in something like this happen for him. "You kids amaze me. Too bad you picked the one event to apply yourselves to that you know I can't fully enjoy!"