Gravestone Guardians, Inc.

06/02/2026

Little Mabel Darling is back for 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟐 of her headstone repair journey. ❤️

In Part 1, we epoxied her small broken base back together. Today, we’re taking the next careful step: applying 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭 to fill the remaining crack and help stabilize the repair.

Now, I know “injection grout” may not sound very exciting…

But around here, that’s what we call 𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐞. 😄

This part of the process is slow, patient, and a little messy — which means it is exactly my kind of project. The goal is not to rush it or make it perfect. The goal is to support the stone, protect the repair, and give Mabel’s marker the best chance to stand strong again.

Mabel was the daughter of 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐬, and she only lived for one year. Her stone may be small, but her memory is not.

Every crack we fill, every piece we support, and every name we bring back into view is part of something much bigger.

Stay tuned for Part 3, when we continue putting Mabel’s headstone back together.

One stone at a time.
One name at a time.
One little repair at a time. ❤️🪦

05/31/2026

When dealing with broken headstones, the break can sometimes be full of gaps when reunited with its other piece.

But maaaaan, we love it when the break comes back together *seamlessly*
🤩🤩🤩🤩

05/30/2026

Today we had the honor of cleaning the headstone of Private Lewis Wales, a Civil War soldier who answered the call in 1862.

Lewis enlisted at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts, and served with Company B, 42nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. His service took him far from home to Louisiana, near Bayou Gentilly, just northeast of New Orleans.

Like so many soldiers of that war, Lewis did not fall on a battlefield. He died of typhoid fever on June 19, 1863 — a reminder that disease claimed countless lives during the Civil War and that sacrifice came in many forms.

More than 160 years later, we were able to gently clean his headstone and bring his name back into view.

That is why we do this work.

Not to make old stones look new, but to make sure the people beneath them are still seen, still spoken of, and still remembered.

Rest easy, Private Wales. Your service is not forgotten. 🇺🇸

05/29/2026

Found a little friend struttin' on a headstone! 🪦
Boogie your way to the weekend, friends! 😎

05/28/2026

Some restoration projects are big, heavy, and require every tool in the Jeep.

And some are tiny… but hit you right in the heart. ❤️

Meet little Mabel Darling, daughter of Edin Darling and Abbie Adams. Mabel only lived for one year, but more than a century later, her name still matters. Her story still matters. And today, we start putting her headstone back together.

In this first video of a three-part series, we’re repairing her small broken base using epoxy so we can eventually reset and reunite the pieces of her marker.

It’s careful work.
It’s patient work.
It’s “don’t glue your fingers together” work.
Ask me how I know. 😅

But this is what preservation is all about — taking the time to care for the smallest stones with the same respect as the largest monuments. Because every life remembered here was loved by someone.

Stay tuned for Part 2 as we continue bringing Mabel’s marker back together.

One stone at a time.
One name at a time.
One little piece of history at a time. ❤️

05/27/2026

A quick look at 2 headstones that ended up off their base.

We got them back to where they belong! 😎🪦👊🏼

05/26/2026

Thirteen years can make a big difference on an old headstone.

The first image in this reel shows the headstone of Richard Crowninshield and his wife, Naomi Peck, as it appeared in 2013. Fast forward to today, and lichen had taken hold across the surface. 🫣

While lichen may look like part of the charm of an old cemetery, it can slowly harm historic stone. It holds moisture against the surface, sends tiny root-like structures into the stone, and over time may contribute to flaking, pitting, and the loss of beautiful details — especially on older and softer historic markers.

That is why preservation matters.

We don’t clean headstones to make them look new. We clean them to protect what remains, slow deterioration, and help ensure these names and stories are not lost to time.

Richard and Naomi’s headstone still has a story to tell.

One stone at a time. ❤️🪦

05/25/2026

May I introduce you to George Fream. Resting in Saugerties, New York. 🥰

Born September 11, 1843, the son of John and Ada Fream, young George joined the Union Army in November of 1861 and perished months later on July 18, 1862. Just 18 years old. 😔

The top of his stone reads:
Our all for our country. 🇺🇸

His parents chose an excerpt from his last letter for his epitaph:
Dear parents,
the expected word
has come. We move! I am
perfectly resigned and
will do my duty.
Your aff. son,
George.

May we always honor and remember. ❤️

05/25/2026

05/24/2026

There is something incredibly special about working so close to home.

Center Cemetery in Bellingham, Massachusetts was established sometime around 1700 and is the final resting place for many of the town’s earliest residents. Names like Bates, Burr, Chilson, Cook, Darling, Holbrook, Pond, and Thayer are carved into these old marble stones — family names woven into the earliest chapters of Bellingham’s history.

This time last year, many of these stones were covered in dirt, grime, and biological growth. Today, with careful cleaning and preservation-safe methods, their inscriptions are slowly coming back into the light.

This work is never about making old stones look new. It’s about honoring memory, preserving history, and making sure these names are not forgotten.

And when that work happens right here in our own community, it means even more.

Bringing history back… one stone at a time. ❤️🪦