It was a true pleasure helping the DeStefano family continue to honor their loved ones, and freshen up the place they’ve been resting at for the past 50 years.
Like most memorials placed within the last century, the imperfections that “come to be” over time can easily go unnoticed.
This particular monument still appeared very beautiful (even with age), and it was quite easy to overlook the natural growths and stains that were present.
The main purpose of cleaning graves is to remove things like the soiling from air pollutants, lichen, dirt, bird droppings, natural salts, and sap. As you can see in this video, lichen is the usual “enemy” (which always takes a few scrub sessions to eliminate), and the older styled vases featured on either side are very prone to holding on to dirt and other natural stains.
The scrubbing efforts performed on this tombstone definitely improved its appearance, and a special leave on treatment will continue to work with the elements to help prevent future growths for some time, as well as help brighten up the appearance of the vases on the side.
It was so rewarding to receive such positive feedback from the family after this grave cleaning was complete! They were so genuine, and as with every Gravesite Care venture – you tend to feel like a part of the family “for one brief shining moment”.
Memento mori. Memento vivere.