sashinka | observation orientated, with a twist of lime | a blog

An Interesting Story That Happened in My Own Life
So, I don't know if a stone setting is only a Jewish thing. I don't think I've ever been to a no-Jewish one. It's about a year after the funeral, and there's a small service at the graveside, unveiling the memorial stone (also called an unveiling). When I was a kid, I thought everyone went to an unveiling every Sunday afternoon.

Here's a weird thing; last week, I got a postcard addressed to Sasha, preprinted in funereal copperplate, with my name and some other details (venue, date) written in by hand, from a stonemasons in Edgware. It was to advise me of the stonesetting in memory of the late Barry Gold (not his real name), at Waltham Abbey on 31st October.

Here's the thing; I don't recognise the name. I think back to whether I've been or not been to a funeral at Waltham Abbey in the last year or so. I don't think I have.

I call my Mother - she doesn't recognise the name, either. Like me, she thinks this is a strange London custom; in Manchester, we don't send postcards.

I call Z - we have lots of the same friends, and maybe if it's someone we knows Grandpa, she'll have a card, too.

She doesn't.

I call a friend whose Grandpa died around this time last year, and explain my predicament. She says, "no, and what's with the postcards, I've never heard of that."

I call the stonemason, a little embarassed. They tell me the name of the deceased's daughter, and she's not in my address book. I ask for the names of other family members, and they don't have it. I look up the name of the deceased's daughter on 192.com, and discover a whole family at the same address, none of whom I recognise.

If this didn't involve a real/dead person, it would be moderately entertaining. It certainly feels like the inciting incident in a film; I'm supposed to go and something plot-driven will happen to me.

I'm thinking, if someone knows me well enough to send me a card telling me about this, I ought to know who they are. I've racked my brains, and just don't recognise the names. I feel confused, a little embarassed, and unsure of my next steps.

Your thoughts?