Arranger makes arrangements for
Prudence to be cremated. Her only child Delbert is driving in
from out-of-state to handle things. Arranger handles everything
perfectly, as usual. Makes no promises that he himself will not be
able to keep, keeps the family informed every step of the way, etc.
Arranger gets a call from a cemetery
asking about the permits. Arranger is surprised, this is not
where Delbert was going to have Prudence interred. Cremation
put on hold - the permit may not be valid since the final disposition
has now changed. Arranger, Delbert, and cemetery trade
communications for a bit, and final disposition is determined. Permit
redone, cremation can now take place. Crematory tells me
Prudence will be back in our care on the 22nd. I publish the
crematory list to staff.
Urn was ordered when arrangements were
made. Urn arrived yesterday. Perfect. Just waiting for
cremains. Assistant calls this afternoon, asking if urn is here. We say yes -
it's all ready to go.
A few hours later, Assistant calls to
tell us Delbert and his wife Josephine will be by late this afternoon
to pick up Prudence's cremains and the urn - please someone stay to handle it since they're driving in from out of state. I ask why they are
coming - we won't have the cremains back in our care for two more
days? Assistant freaks out, starts to call every number we have for
family to have them call us ASAP.
Later, I get a call from
Delbert and Josephine - they will be at the office within about 30
minutes to pick up Prudence. I tell them the cremains are not
back in our care, and we don't expect to have them until sometime on
Thursday. I ask who called them to tell them they were ready.
They said they were promised by Arranger on the contract that
Prudence would be ready on Monday the 19th. (uuuhhh NO.
Arranger doesn't give date promises on stuff out of his hands, and
there are no such dates mentioned in our contracts). Delbert
asks what they are supposed to do at the service tomorrow morning at
the cemetery? My blood runs cold. They try to get me to somehow
make the cremains appear on the shelf. I explain that the change of
locations (a total of 4 times!!) had put a delay on the process, but no one notified us that
there was a specific date needed. Turns out they talked to
Assistant this morning - when Assistant asked if the urn was here, he
meant was it full of the proper cremains and ready to be released to
the family. We understood he was asking about the urn itself - and it
was here, but empty and waiting for the cremains to arrive. OUR BAD!!!
Delbert and Josephine agree to call
Arranger on his cell phone. Josephine calls me back a few
minutes later (much calmer, and much less accusatory) saying they
will be picking up just the urn, and will do a 'fake' service
tomorrow, and will bring the urn back to us so we can transfer the
ashes once Prudence is back in our care.
Arranger calls to make sure I am doing
what he wants me to do. Tells me that he has spoken to the cemetery,
and they DO NOT have a service scheduled for Prudence tomorrow.
Delbert and Josephine planned the service without our involvement at
all, so it's really not a concern to us. But it's just an interesting little sidebar.
It's 5:20, and a huge camper trailer
pulls up out front. Josephine comes in. She goes into a
hissy about how horrid the cemetery has been, yada yada yada yada.
She LOVES the urn (it really is beautiful - the kind I want if I get
one). We sit and chat a bit more, and she starts to relax and lose
her edge. She tells me that she's frustrated in how her husband has handled things. She discovered they have no services set up for tomorrow, but she's got a plan to solve it. (I try not to be visibly relieved.)
Josephine decides they will keep the urn and return home as
scheduled, not stopping by again. Once Prudence has returned to our
care, we will ship the temporary urn to the cemetery with all
necessary permits, letting the cemetery do the interment when it fits
their schedule.
The conversation winds down and we go back to the delayed cremation. Josephine said, "This would be just like Prudence -
always a day late! She'd celebrate Christmas on the 26th if she could get away with it!" We laugh. Then it hits me. I
tell her, "If everyone knows that she was always late to
everything, then you can use that to lighten the mood tomorrow at the
cemetery. If you want, you can tell everyone that the urn you have is
empty, because Prudence has done the impossible: SHE IS LATE TO
HER OWN FUNERAL!" Josephine throws her head back and just
laughs. She loves the idea. No clue if they will do that
or not, but it made the appointment end on a happy note.
And so, I leave work just before 6 yet
again. Crazy.
No comments:
Post a Comment