Missing dates on Gravestone

[Yvonne Donnellon]

Hi

As you can see from the photo, the dates appear to have never been engraved. Why would this happen?  Do you think the stone was engraved when the daughter was laid to rest or was her details added later?

[GR2]

The whole inscription has been carved at the same time, so presumably after the daughter died and while the parents were still alive. Interestingly, they have not carved "departed" before "this life". It would have had to be abbreviated to fit it in. Maybe it would have been tempting fate to have carved it.

[Yvonne Donnellon]

Thank you, I hadn't thought of it that way round. Pretty weird seeing your own inscription on your gravestone!

[Chris Doran]

From discussions on Find A Grace forums, I gather that such "pre-need" inscriptions are common in the USA, often leaving a dangling name with no dates when a surviving spouse remarries and is buried with their new family, The most I've come across here is one parent's name at the top and a child's at the bottom, with a gap awaiting the other parent.