Father's Day 2023
Since neither my daughter nor I had a father worth a damn, we sometimes spend Father's Day weekend together. Unfortunately, her sons inherited the same condition. They were with their dad (such a term when a man doesn't deserve to be called that). My son-in-law took his daughter to a bug-infested family outing at a lake in Wisconsin with no air conditioning or running water. Daughter and I went to a hotel in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
On the way, we stopped at Pet Rest Cemetery in Ossian, where I have three pets interred. I'd never been there before. My cats from 2004 and 2005 are in nicely sculpted gardens. My dog, who I'd had to 'lift up' in 2020, was in a weedy patch with a dead tree. Seriously. The two so-called garden spots next to him didn't look any better.
Pet Rest has a slightly different name now, but you can still find it online. It was purchased by someone new last August. My cat, who passed away in April of this year, is being held in their mausoleum in a nearby town until close to the end of the year. Then they will bury the urn with all the ashes of the year's pets and plant a garden for 2023.
I called Monday morning and spoke to the manager. I told him how disappointed I was with the weeds and dead tree. He said he would walk back there and look at those areas and call the groundskeepers. I assured him I would return next summer because of the cat who passed away this year and to see how the gardens have improved. I pay for their services. It's not right to let the place go like that, even this close to the pandemic.
Some of the stones had little nameplates for the pets. I was curious, so I asked about the price—$ 115 for a nameplate. Well, I have three pets there now and the one in the mausoleum, so I can't see myself doing that anytime soon.
I hope that when I return next summer, the gardens for 2019-2023 will be as well kept as the rest of the place, which is beautiful.
In memory of my cat Roswell Buckhead 1998-2004
cat Zammiss Psycho 1995-2005
dog Barkley Billy 2008-2020
cat Esse Diamond 2005-2023