I got the plaque today.
It's been over a year, and we still don't have a permanent headstone for Paul. There's a good reason. It's that simple word: permanent. We knew we had one shot to make this what we wanted, but we weren't sure what we wanted.
After 3 different companies, umpteen different designs and countless detail changes, we finally made a decision. It wasn't an easy one: bronze or granite?... big or small?... lower case or capitals?... race car or not?... border or plain? How do you sum up someone's life in a 9" by 11" piece of stone?
We finally decided on a bronze plaque (which we ordered on-line) set inside granite (which we'll have to have done here in Waco by another company). After we exhausted the poor plaque designer by making more changes than humanly possible, we placed our order and.... waited. Waited for the 4 weeks it took to get the plaque in our hands. And it came today...
... And there's a problem. The first set of quotation marks around the scripture verse is missing. The second set is there, but not the first. I double checked to make sure it was correct in the design, which it was. So... just one of those production mistakes.
Which is actually quite appropriate, don't you think? I mean, no matter how much you plan, or how much you fret over the details, sometimes things just don't turn out like you expected. Proof of the limits of our "control" because, ultimately, things are out of our hands.
Mistakes happen. Life isn't perfect, and you can't predict when those unexpected bumps in the road (or deep, dark chasms) will find you. So we spend our time trying to prevent them or, when they do happen, trying to fix them.
Maybe I'll keep this "blemished" plaque as Paul's headstone to remind me of the imperfectness of life. On second thought, why the heck do I need a plaque to remind me of that? I wake up with that knowledge every morning.
Maybe I just haven't gotten my full 8 hours the past few nights, and I need to go to bed and email my complaint to the bronze company in the morning.
There I go... making plans again.
3 comments:
You are always in my prayers...
I am sorry for this most recent frustration.
Still praying for you upon every remembrance.
Yours because His,
Lynn
I love how you always teach us something from everyday frustrations/experiences. I think Paul deserves the best and it is ok to make them fix it...who knows possibly they will tell you to keep the mistake so not to have to pay to send it back ;-)
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