When I first heard of Dodds Memorials, I was working at The Pines Pet Cemetery as a grief counselor. I also helped order pet markers for the families. The Pines is where I met Rick Meyer, who was our go to person with Dodds. I ordered the small pet markers with another company at the time, but sometimes families wanted something more custom, so I would send them to Dodds.
When my stepfather died, my mother and I went to Rick and ordered an upright lasered memorial for him. In the meantime, I was no longer with the Pines, I was volunteering with Middletown Hospice. Rick needed an admin, so I started working for him at the Lebanon Branch location. He taught me about sales and granite.
The Branch in Middletown needed a sales consultant, and I started there. The first month I was invited to visit one of our largest vendors “The Rock of Ages” and I always felt lucky to go there, but it would have been nice to go there once I had more experience. I have experience now of working with families, trying to meet their needs, with the cemeteries trying to meet their requirements, and living up to Dodds’s standards as an employee.
The most trying time was when the Covid shut down happened. Neil Fogarty, president of Dodds worked hard to keep us all employed. The offices were not open, and we worked from our homes; I even took appointments in the cemeteries. Then there were all the delays on granite and all the unhappy families calling. We could not help things, there were just so many deaths from covid. We lost a cherished soul at that time from Covid, Sam. He made us all feel special and helped our families as well.
I used to have a quote from Dr. Seuss framed and hanging up in the office, “Don’t cry because it’s over – smile because it happened.” I thought that it was fitting for a lost life, but now I see how it fits for anything that is over.
I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work for this amazing company, and I am proud of the work I have done. There will be memorials in different cemeteries that I have helped to create for a lifetime. Thank you all for letting me be part of your team. I smile because it happened. What comes after retirement, grandboys, rest, and lots of activities. Every day will be Saturday, You know how much I love Saturdays.
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