The Weird Phone Call

Not so long ago we got a phone call on the landline. That in and of itself is a bit odd. The lady was looking for my aunt who passed away a few years ago and after giving the phone to my mother I went about my business. Once the call ended my mother told me the lady was looking to sale some cemetery plots that my mother’s father had bought in the fifties. I never met this grandfather. He killed himself in the sixties. It was something that haunts my mother 

There was several things odd about the call my mother told me. One, the lady (who was a cousin) thought my aunt had owned the plots. The aunt in question is actually a cousin who was just so much older than my mother that they always called her aunt. Another odd things was my grandfather isn’t even buried here. I’m not sure why she wanted to sell the plots either since her side of the family didn’t own them.

Anyway, I called the funeral home that I thought could help me. It’s not easy when you don’t have a lot of information. Luckily I got the correct one and the man had actually spoken with the lady that day. He told her that he needed to find out who the plots were originally deeded to. If the original owner’s heirs had the deed than the plots could be sold. However the county where they are located required the original deed. If no one had the deed it would just pass on to the heirs of the original owner and no one could really do anything with them.

Of course we don’t have the deed. I told him I knew my great grandfather was buried there but also my mother’s sister who had died when she was just a few months old. The problem was her plot was never marked. He went out and attempted to locate it but said he couldn’t. That was unusual after all this time. Apparently another uncle had some granite things placed around all of the plots marking them as the family’s. He did this before he passed away and never said anything.

On my trip this year I am going up to show where my aunt’s plot should be and get her a headstone as well as new one for my great grandfather. The biggest mystery of all is why some family member that no one has spoken to in years decided they needed to sell some plots. Nor is it clear how she got our home phone number. She wasn’t happy with her results and contacted several other family members attempting to get their help. Since I spoke to the funeral director and the county they were aware of who the heirs were. My mother and her two surviving brothers. Although as the oldest it passes to my mother and then us kids.

It felt like she called and brought up a lot of bad memories and other things for my mother and uncle all for some money. Maybe she didn’t realize she would end up opening old wounds. Maybe she needed the money. She told my mother there were people who needed the plots and since as far she knew no one was going to use them we needed to sign them over to her so she could sell them. Now this was before the covid pandemic. We weren’t trying to be greedy, in fact my mother had no problem selling or giving someone who needed them the plots. It was way this particular lady went about it. Like she was in charge and that was that.