28 Years of Love, Memories, and Remembrance Deserve to Be Protected ❤️

 

In 1998, a family lost their 16-year-old son, Austin Floering. For 28 years, his family has continued to honor his life by decorating his gravesite at Fort Meigs Union Cemetery in Perrysburg, Ohio.

 

For this family, these decorations are not simply objects sitting at a gravesite. They are traditions. They represent birthdays, holidays, memories, love, and the countless moments a family has found ways to keep their son's memory alive. They are part of how a mother continues to honor her child.

 

Now, after nearly three decades, Austin's family is being told that these decorations and memorial structures must come down because of cemetery regulations.

 

We understand that cemeteries need rules to maintain safety, organization, and respect for everyone. We are not asking for those responsibilities to be ignored. We are asking for compassion, fairness, and consideration for a memorial that has existed for approximately 28 years.

 

WE ARE ASKING FOR TWO IMPORTANT CHANGES:

 

❤️ 1. Grant Austin Floering's family a permanent grandfathering exception.

 

We ask the Fort Meigs Union Cemetery Board of Trustees and the City of Perrysburg to recognize the longstanding history of Austin's memorial and allow his family to continue their traditions, provided reasonable safety and maintenance requirements are met.

 

❤️ 2. Establish a fair grandfathering policy for other families.

 

We ask that a written policy be created to protect other longstanding gravesite memorials throughout the cemetery. Families who have maintained memorials for many years should have a fair opportunity to be heard before being required to remove something deeply meaningful to them.

 

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

 

Today, it is Austin's family. Tomorrow, it could be another mother, father, grandparent, sibling, or child who finds themselves in the same situation.

 

A cemetery is not just a place where people are buried. It is where families visit, remember, grieve, celebrate birthdays, decorate for holidays, and maintain connections with the people they have lost.

 

We cannot change the fact that Austin died at just 16 years old. We cannot give his mother back the years she should have had with her son. But we can stand together and ask that the traditions she has maintained for 28 years be given the consideration and respect they deserve.

 

This is not about creating conflict. It is about finding a reasonable solution that respects cemetery regulations while recognizing the importance of family remembrance.

 

PLEASE STAND WITH AUSTIN'S FAMILY.

 

Sign this petition. Share it with your friends, family, neighbors, and the Perrysburg community.

 

Let's bring this request before the Cemetery Board and City Council and show them that our community believes longstanding family memorials deserve consideration.

 

Twenty-eight years of love should not be dismissed.

 

LET AUSTIN'S FAMILY CONTINUE TO REMEMBER. LET'S PROTECT OTHER FAMILIES, TOO. ❤️