pinnaroo plaque proofs

after months of sorting the estate for dougs parents, this is our final piece to completion, the plaque for their grave at pinnaroo. i can still hear the fury in doug's mums voice when she realised that the cemetery stephen was buried at didn't have stone headstones, instead simple metal plaques set into the grass. she was so annoyed as the samoans love their headstones. i very calmly told her we could dig him up and have him moved to a different cemetery with headstones, to which i was met with further disgust and "of course not. what is wrong with you." okay, well here are the plaque options. doug was cracking up. she came quickly to the realisation that he was buried in a lovely place and left it alone after that.

today we received our proof of what will be going on the grave, which was approved and sent off. now begins the process of waiting for the cemetery to have the plaque manufactured and set in the grave when it is received. who knows how long that will take, but we are alll done with the estate and not a minute too soon. so much stress, so little time. i guess they really can now, rest in  peace. ❤

 

steve's headstone

last week we went out to pinnaroo as a family and put stephen's headstone in place. we had it made up by a local woodworking company owned by a friend of ours, who has recently started to etch on acrylic as well as wood, and surprise - now marble too! we had ordered acrylic and when doug arrived to collect it, there it was in marble. we are so, so happy with it and think it is the most wonderful tribute to him.

we had it done up in time for his birthday and gave it to oli then - she was so touched. traditionally in her samoan culture, they wait for the one year anniversary of the passing to unveil the headstone, but we felt like now was a good time. we chose her favourite photo of stephen (which had also been on the cover of the funeral booklet) and a photo of the new zealand temple where they were sealed... then when the proof was sent to us, our friend had added an outline of new zealand in the middle to complete it. we couldn't have asked for anything better, it was just perfect.

so now he is here, rest peacefully with a beautiful marker, for those who come to see him. the sun was setting right as doug finally got it in place and it was a really special moment for all of us.

alex was trying to help (trying being the correct word) and kept flinging dirt straight back onto the headstone as doug would clean it off again and it was so funny. the kids chat away to stephen whenever we visit as though he is still there and i love that they got to have him around them for so long, to have such a special bond with him. all of this happened because dougs parents were brave enough to make the move here to perth and we have been grateful every day since. 

we miss him terribly, but he's still here with us in our hearts.