After an online appeal, Jason Bassett has made a deal with a woman in England – to each visit the grave of their deceased parent given the Covid-19 restrictions.
Jason, 30, a funeral director with Jardine Funeral Directors, normally makes the 500-mile round trip each December to his father’s grave in his home city of Birmingham.
This year’s trip was set to be extra special, as Jason would be taking his ten-month-old son Arlo, as well as wife Lisa.
But due to Covid, his plans have changed, so Jason posted an advert on a Facebook page in the Solihull area asking if someone could tidy his father’s plot and possibly lay a holly wreath.
He said: “It’s a pilgrimage I make every year to place a holly wreath on his ashes memorial plot in Robin Hood Cemetery.
“Since posting, I have been inundated with messages from people willing to help. One lady who walks her dog every morning whilst visiting a family member in the cemetery has said that she will tidy the plot and place a holly wreath on my behalf.
“Incredibly, she has now gone one step further and said that she will continue to maintain the area throughout the coming year, because she was so touched by the number of messages the post has created.”
In addition, many others who visit the cemetery at Christmas have offered to visit Jason’s father.
And Jason explained that one lady contacted him to explain that she could empathise as she was in a similar situation with her mother buried in Scotland, saying to him: “I feel I can use the time visiting your dad to think about my own mother this Christmas.”
He could not believe it when she revealed her mum’s resting place is in Moffat and he said: “Before I told the lady that I stayed in Dumfries, she had no idea whereabouts in Scotland I lived.
“So, this Christmas I will be visiting her mum and she will be visiting my dad.”
The situation has prompted Jason to think there may be lots of families in a similar situation and perhaps people could reach out to one another.
With his employer on board, Jason and other Jardine’s staff are all willing to visit memorials or local cemeteries to visit the deceased of those otherwise unable to attend.
