I know you all are wondering about Eli’s headstone. Yes, we ordered it December of 2021, a few weeks after he died. We bought enough plots for Eli, Adam, and me, so we bought a headstone for the three of us to share. The style we chose is less common, so the monument company didn’t have the stone in stock and had to order it.

The parts of the headstone started arriving last June. The rest didn’t come in until October 2022. We were working on the design, but I ran out of time/energy/ emotional fortitude and we’re still working on it. If this were for some ordinary kid, I think we would have finished it already. But this is for Eli.

Most of the headstone design is pretty typical, but we are planning something unique for the last section. Longtime readers may recall that one of the things on Eli’s wishlist when we found out his cancer was incurable, was to do an escape room. Thanks to some amazing and generous people, we did two escape rooms.

The part of the headstone design we are still working on is inspired by the concept of an escape room. You will just have to check it out in person after it’s installed for the full experience. In the meantime, here is a sketch Valerie did that will be featured on one section of the headstone: