I want to write to whomever this concerns. I’m hurt, upset about a graveyard thief that keeps stealing from my mom’s grave.

Let me explain. My mom died suddenly on April 22, 2010. In December 2010, I put a little small Christmas tree and Santa-type whatnot on my mom’s grave. When I went back to get it, it had taken legs and walked off. Only, the legs were of a human (kind.) I didn’t think much about that!

Here lately, some more things that I put on my mom’s grave have been stolen. Another family member’s stuff was not touched. Valentine’s Day, I made my mom a vase with red roses and a white bear in it. Mother’s Day, I handmade her a Mother’s Day basket. It was made out of plastic canvas. The basket could, if it had gotten dirty, been washed! I planned to leave the basket at her grave to keep flowers in. It had red roses in it. The Valentine vase and the basket were removed.

Whomever this graveyard thief is, it needs to please stop! I do know it’s someone who knows what I put there because my things are the only things stolen. Whomever is removing these things, you should remember it’s my mother! I don’t have any brothers or sisters. I’m the only child.

I must say it was a blow to me when I lost my mom suddenly. My mom and I did everything together. Where you saw her, you saw me. If my flowers were bothering whomever took my basket and vase, why didn’t you have the guts to come to me or my dad and say, “Hey! Those flowers are faded?” Or you could have, better yet, removed the old ones and replaced them with new ones. I’m not rich. If I were, I would have flowers from a flower shop placed on there every so often.

My mom taught me that if she put something on my grandpa’s grave, when it faded, she took off “only” what she had put on there. Others’ stuff stayed. I’m just fed-up with it being my mom, and I don’t have the say-so to have anything on my mom’s grave. I’m getting ready to put some Christmas flowers in another handmade basket.

I will do as I did before – place rocks in it so it won’t blow away. I pray that my stuff from now on stays on. Who ever you are, I may not know, but God knows. Don’t you think on Judgment Day, He’s going to ask you about what you stole from the grave. It wasn’t yours!

I don’t go every day to my mom’s grave. I’m still having a hard time dealing with the loss. It bothers me if I go every day. In the future, who ever is removing my things, if you have a problem with what I put down there on my mom’s grave, call my dad or me. We checked with the cemetery owners. They didn’t know anything about my things being removed. I don’t understand why anybody would want to steal, especially from a loved ones grave. This is my mom’s grave, only my mom’s grave. Look at this. What if you were in my shoes?

Each time you put something on your mom’s grave, and it was stolen, how would you feel? I cried about it! It hurts me to know that someone that claims to love and care for me, who knows me, would be gutless and remove stuff that I place on my mom’s grave. That’s like being stabbed in the heart.

I pray that who ever you are, you will stop. If I were you that’s been stealing, I would get down on my knees and ask for forgiveness. God’s watching you. May God truly bless you.

Tammy Delaine Kelley