William Johnson Breuer Grave Marker Conundrum

What does one do with the standard issue Veteran's Administration bronze grave marker when her father's cremains are disinterred from the local cemetery and bound for Arlington National Cemetery?

I got the call on Monday of this week, June 23.  The nice lady at Resurrection Cemetery confirmed that my daddy, William Johnson Breuer, who died on March 12, 2006, had been officially delivered to the local funeral home awaiting the arrival of my mother's cremains, so they can make the journey together, along with Little Orphan Agnes, their official escort, to Arlington.   The timing of this journey is TBD.  I await the call from Arlington.

My Parents will receive a combined military burial ceremony with full honors.  My father was a Second Lieutenant Junior Grade, second in command on a Landing Craft Tank, 11th Wave, Omaha Beach, D-Day, June 6, 1944.  My mother served in the United States Navy Nurse Corps.  She was stationed at St. Alban's Hospital in Long Island, New York.  They met at Delmonico's Restaurant in Manhattan.  It had been repurposed into a glamorous Naval Officer's Club for the duration of the war.  Elizabeth Arden set up shop in the Ladies Room with a salon stocked with free cosmetics and products for the Navy Nurses.  It must have been a fabulous place for our service men and women to escape the horrors of the war and have some fun.   They had live music, fine dining and free libations.

Back to the original question.  What do you do with your father's grave marker?  They can't use it at Arlington.   As you might imagine, it's pretty crowded there these days...

The cemetery suggested that I have them dispose of his marker.  Well, that didn't set well at all with me!   It's engraved with his name, the dates of his life and his service as a soldier, husband, and father.

I'm going to the cemetery to retrieve it tomorrow.  It's a strange trip to make, but I guess we all have some strange and difficult trips to take from time to time in this life..

Different, mostly unsuitable,  ideas popped up. Do I melt it down and donate the proceeds to veterans in need of medical care?  Do I place it in a beautifully framed shadowbox and hang it somewhere in my house?  Do I display it on an easel somewhere in my house?

My daddy grew up on the farm in St. James, Missouri.  He had a great appreciation for the outdoors. He loved taking care of our beautiful yard surrounding the house where I grew up.   We always had colorful trees and bushes; dogwoods, lilacs, forsythia and home grown tomatoes in the backyard.

Charlie and I have a big yard and I've decided to create a garden for my dad with a large Crepe Myrtle Tree as the centerpiece surrounded by flowers that will bloom every spring to coincide with his journey to Heaven.  We'll place his beautiful bronze marker in a prominent position in his garden.

If you have a better idea, you'd better weigh in soon...  I'm going to the nursery before I pick up the grave marker tomorrow!  I wish I could think of something funny to say.  The best I can come up with is to quote my mother during her last days,  Up your nose with a rubber hose.  It's later than you think!  You can all go straight to Hell!  When I get there, we'll start the party!  I'm sure this embarrassed my father terribly... Aren't they a beautiful couple?  I bet he took her to Delmonico's when she got to Heaven.

Carpe Diem!