By Bob Copperstone
A Wahoo City Council public hearing, which partly discussed confiscated graveside flowers at Sunrise Cemetery, packed the meeting on Tuesday.
At the time, I was unaware that many, if not most, of the protesters were there because they were furious that correctly-placed flowers and other displays had been swept up and destroyed in a mass cleanup designed to head-start a new set of regulations.
I asked to speak at the hearing because I believe a firmer administration, with a fair and sustainable set of rules, can benefit the cemetery, now and in the future.
My remarks at the hearing (see below) put me firmly on the side of those who are seeking redress to a possible administrative error.
To oversimplify the solution to the boiling tempers stirred up at the hearing, here’s what could – or maybe should -- have happened:
Someone screws up. Someone admits it. Someone apologizes for it. Someone says they’ll do their best to see that it never happens again. Everyone is soothed.
* * *
Here are my remarks at the hearing:
The Copperstone family here in Wahoo has had a plot at Sunrise Cemetery since 1943, and maybe a dozen or so other of my relatives’ graves are scattered throughout the beautiful facility.
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of holiday visits from far-flung loved ones who travel to their old hometown.
And as always, they want to visit the graves in Wahoo as well as in Valparaiso, site of the original Copperstone homestead.
Finding flowers and decorating the graves was always a serious rite and, frankly, quite a chore.
I wish we didn’t have to take long-term steps to save and keep the grounds beautiful.
I wish we could coast along as we always have.
I wish everyone could be relied upon to do the right thing concerning grave decorations.
I also wish gas was still 26 cents a gallon.
I could easily join my fellow citizens here tonight who oppose any strictures on this very personal task. At one time, I might have chosen to join the opposition.
But I have a selfish reason to approve of the committee’s well-studied decisions.
That is because I find myself today in the unique position of helping to improve my surroundings many years from now.
You see, I will eventually share a site with my loved ones in the Copperstone family plot at Sunrise.
And it’s comforting to know that maintenance and appearances are in professional hands. My relatives need not worry that the plots around me will become less than properly groomed.
I decided recently to start improving my future home immediately.
I looked at the Copperstone plot the other day and saw that it looked kind of unkempt and cluttered. I decided to make it more compliant with the new rules.
Two huge cement urns, one of them cracked, and a pair of smaller ones with cracked white paint, had to go. They were bare of flowers 250 days out of the year, anyway.
I stepped back and admired the neatness of the plot. That’s how I want my future home, and those of my neighbors, to look.
Life is good. So is death, if it’s done right.
As Told By Uncle Bob: A Gravesite to Die For