Moving the grave...........from Dear Abby

[LibraryLady]

This letter left me kinda speechless. IMO, the baby was in a grave. How/what did she expect the sister to do? The cemetery does the upkeep. If she wanted flowers on dates, that can be arranged. The sister does not owe the woman anything. Sister could not help that a job or???? made her move. It was not her duty to stay in the community any more than it was the duty of the mother of the child.

DEAR ABBY: Twenty-three years ago my husband and I lost our firstborn son. As my husband was active duty military, we could have buried him anywhere in the United States. At the time, we were in a place where my sister swore to me she would always live, and she would always be there to take care of him. I knew with my husband's career we had many more moves ahead of us, and it helped to ease the loss knowing that he would be taken care of.

Well, that lasted all of three years. My husband and I are now at a point where we have settled down and we know where we should have buried our precious angel, instead of trusting my sister.

We want to have him exhumed, cremated and placed in a veterans cemetery, but my question is this: Do I have the right to ask my sister to pay part of the costs as she "broke" her promise to help care for my son? -- HEARTBROKEN MOTHER

DEAR HEARTBROKEN: Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your son. While it's clear that there are many hurt feelings about what happened after his original interment, I think it's time to forgive your sister.

It's a fact of life that sometimes unforeseen circumstances prevent people with the best of intentions from keeping promises they make. Forgive her if you can, but don't ask her for money. She may owe you an apology, but she does not owe you any money.

[dublusk]

Everybody wants free money!!

[grouchy]

Wow!

[Trixie]

I swear, every time I read Dear Abby, I wonder how some people function on a daily basis.