When a loved one passes away, there are a lot of things that have to be taken care of by their family.
Preparing arrangements and getting things in order can be a very challenging and difficult situation for everyone. There sometimes is little time to mourn and grieve when you have so many things to plan and do. So, many families try their best to keep their loved one's memory alive and keep their persona in the world.
Putting together a loved one's funeral can be hard for anyone, especially for a parent or family member. Many people want to honor their loved ones, but also keep things as "real" as possible.
As the gravestone stands forever and is what people will read and see when they visit them in the cemetery, trying to figure out the right thing to put on it can be difficult.
Aside from listing that their loved one was a devoted parent, brother, sister, friend, etc., some families want to add some fun and humor to their gravestone. Especially if their loved one was funny and silly.
Going to visit the cemetery is something many individuals do when they lose a loved one. If you can add some of their personality to the gravestone somehow, it might make remembering them even easier.
While families may feel one way, there are many other people who sometimes are involved in funeral arrangements and headstones. For example, the cemetery in which a loved one is buried can sometimes step in.
Lindsay Owens and her family were trying to find the right words to put on their father, Steven Paul Owens' gravestone when he passed.
Using the words "Forever in our hearts. Until we meet again. Cherished memories. Known as. Our son, brother. Father, papa, uncle. Friend and cousin," the beginning of each word spells out the phrase "F**k Off."
“It was definitely his term of endearment. If he didn’t like you, he didn’t speak to you. It’s just who he was,” his daughter Lindsay Owens told reporters at WIBW news.
Staff at the Warren-Powers Cemetery in Polk, Iowa said that the gravestone is offensive and from the beginning, they have been against the family's choice to put it up.
The staff has said that profanity and that type of language have no place in a person's eternal resting place. They also believe others may be offended by it in their graveyard.
"No one’s forcing anyone to come out and look at it. That’s a choice that you make. We didn’t do it to offend anyone, make anyone mad or hurt anyone’s feelings,” said son Zachary Owens.
As of right now, the gravestone is still up.
