My dh and I decided we would buy our tombstone together and not leave this task to our children. He is going to put his USMC emblem or such on it and suggested I could put a little sewing machine or quilt on my corner. I like the idea but is this weird?

Not at all. It's more the trend now. Saves those left behind from extra responsiblity and stress.

Not weird at all. I think it sounds perfect and very thoughtful. Your children will appreciate it someday.

Not weird! And having recently buried 3, it is great that you are being thoughtful enough to take care of this ahead of time.

It's not weird at all and it will represent the real you and your DH. Your loved ones now will understand and those in the future will know a little about who you were. :)

So you're question is not about if it's okay for you and your husband to design the tombstone yourself, but it it were strange to have a quilt or sewing machine on the stone, right? I think this is a lovely idea! Absolutely wonderful!

We are planning to do the same. My parents (still living) have theirs on the plots already. They also blessed us with the gift of pre-planning their funeral. That takes care of everything, even transporting to the cemetery, which is in another state. I hope to be able to do that for our children, but will need to wait until our youngest is out of college and independent of us.

Another thing our family has started doing is including on the back of the stone 'Proud Parents of...' and including all the children's names. This will aid in geneology research at some later time.

Great idea..why let someone else make those decisions for you? With an elderly Mother not in the best of health, I am keenly aware how important it is to make any decision while you can. My parents were always going to do it later and now the response to any question is "just do what you all want". Mother thinks it is sick we've already taken care of final arrangements for ourselves. Love the idea of "the Proud parents".

Nope, most people now a days buy their own so the kids dont have to. And in my extended family they wont. The kids take the money and run. I think its a good idea. My parents bought mine and theirs when my brother passed. That way we could all be in the same place, a small cementary outside of town on a hill under a tree.

You say your DH was USMC, so is he eligible for burial at a National Cemetary? I thought most who served are. If he is then the plot and a head stone they provide are free to you. They will place both of you him in front you in back and engrave the headstone the same, he will be on front, you will be on back.