It's official, Reid is finally formally marked in the cemetery. After what seems to have been about ten weeks, his bronze marker was installed this afternoon.

When I first saw it in place, it struck me differently than I was expecting... but to be honest, I am not sure what I was expecting. Surely it wasn't what smacked me today though. After all, I have visited him at his grave site a million of times. What was so different today than it was the day before? I mean, it is just a slab of granite with a bronze marker, right? I guess it just makes it more real.

Once I got over the shock of what I was looking at... and being as anal as I am, I sat there for about five minutes cleaning up. The four red flags that marked his grave site were still up and needed to be removed, rocks from the dirt that was dug out needed to be sorted and discarded, dirt needed to be cleaned off the grass that wasn't cut away, and dirt needed to be brushed off the marker. And I know, most of this stuff probably wouldn't have bothered most people, but it had to be perfect!

We will be on the search for flowers for his vase this weekend... Kristen has blue's and yellow's in mind - something that is going to stand out. I will be happy when this is all finished... after all, it is about time, right?