Compared to the other graves around it, this one is nicely manicured and the lawn-type grass is always green. This is what a grave looks like if the deceased's relative opts for a private maintenance arrangement with workers at the cemetery.
For a fee, Melbourne or any other worker at Dovecot, will take special care of your loved one's grave. They offered me the private maintenance service a year ago when they saw my frustration over the removal of the plant I had been trying to nurture at my grandmother's grave.
Ever since her death on New Year's Eve five years ago, I try to visit her grave annually on January 1, Mother's Day or on her birthday in September. I may miss the other dates but never the first day of the new year. During the visit, I also check on the grave of a girlfriend's mother and five of the seven young men who were killed during that unforgettable carnage in Braeton, St. Catherine. The young men's headstones are painted white.
Melbourne made the suggestion for private maintenance when on New Year's Day 2006, I planted a succulent at grandma's grave, only to return three weeks later for a funeral and find it dug up and missing.
Prior to our new arrangement, Melbourne would scour the red dirt from her headstone and perhaps water the plant in time for my visit but on that occasion, he saw my frustration and pointed out a grave with neatly kept grass (like a well-maintained lawn). He told me he could do the same for an agreed sum.
Well, for my granny, the sum seemed insignificant compared to the sacrifices and love she gave me, plus, during her lifetime, grandma loved neatness and beautiful flowers all around her, hence my pledge to keep her in the style to which she was accustomed.
We exchanged telephone numbers and Melbourne called me regularly throughout the year to assure me that my granny's new 'lawn' was looking good. And on New Year's Day when I visited, I was happy to see that he was right. Although it is not yet up to the standard of the one in the picture on this page, Melbourne assures me it will be, by Mother's Day when I make another visit.
