Oh boy, what a cluster fuck with my parents entombment.
My mother passed 13 years ago, and she hated the idea of being buried in the ground, didn't want to be worm food. So she and my Dad bought a vault in a mausoleum back in the 80's or 90's. They were to be entombed head to head in a shared vault. So when my mom was put in, she was supposed to be pushed all the way to the back to make room for my Dad when it came time to entomb him.
The mausoleum has been a complete eye sore since she was entombed. She was entombed on the inside. For years there were bricks falling and holes on the outside. The inside was musty and mildewy with wet carpets. Originally we all had keys to get in, then they changed the lock and required to only visit during office hours. They eventually installed a keypad, which I understand didn't always work. The cemetery offices which are in the same building as the mausoleum is currently closed due to mold in the air!
After the funeral of my father about 20mins after we left for a family meal, we get a call from the funeral home director. He told us he was still at the mausoleum and there was an issue. He said that when the originally entombed my Mom they did not push her all the way back, and there was no way to put my Dad in the same vault because my Mom couldn't go any further back. We talked to the manager of the cemetary (under new owners since my Mom was entombed), he said they would pay to upgrade my parents to a vault on the outside of the mausoleum, here my parents would be side by side rather then head to head. They would also update the lettering and include emblem of a Cardinal for my Mom and a army emblem for my Father.
Today my sister has been forwarding me texts from the funeral home director with updates. It appears the asshole who put my Mom in just wedged her in there so they could just barley get the plate back up. The casket is dented and can't be budge in either direction. The funeral home is going to make them buy my mom a new casket. It sounds like they will have to cut the end of the casket off and move my mother into a new casket, and then fold in the sides of the casket to remove it. The cemetery tried to blame the funeral home for providing an oversized casket, but the funeral home manager measured and proved them wrong.
Sounds like the cemetery's insurance will pay for everything. Why the fuck weren't we told of this 13 yrs ago and given the option to relocate the vault location (still only about half filled)?
heres a picture