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What Mark Will I Make?
A common reaction to our website is delight and sometimes giddiness.
O, the thought of leaving a message that can be read in 2,000 years!
And then the next reaction sets in: what mark will I make?
On this page, we provide you with a number of suggestions to help you
get in the mood to find the right mark for you to leave for the future
to read.
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I Am Me!
The most direct mark you can make is simply to identify yourself.
You can use your full name and birthday, such as "Helen Rose Walleck 1939-8-27"
or add titles like "Helen Rose Walleck 1939-8-27, graduate of Pittsburgh University,
pioneering computer programmer, and financial planner."
To help future genealogists, you can provide your parentage.
For example, "Helen Rose Walleck 1939-8-27 of Frank Joseph Walleck and Marian June Silver".
There's no limit to how many ancestors you can provide; you choose.
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I Accomplished Something!
Aside from declaring your name, you may want to leave your personal mark that says
what you have accomplished. For example,
"Jimmy Johnson, first oboe, Bach 'Magnificat'" or
"Jane Wang, Blackberry quickdraw champion of building 200!"
Or something longer, for example
"Sarah Berenstein, accomplished author, speaker, and trainer for microprocessor
thermal conservation; holds 3 patents; architected 80321 cooling system; Arizona's
top Bridge player."
Stop and think about your accomplishments.
Consider which ones you would like to record permanently.
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I Wrote This!
Have you written or composed something you would like preserved for the ages?
Perhaps a poem? a story? a song? or something else?
Record it permanently in granite.
(Please note that you must own the copyright; do not mark any text that belongs
to someone else.)
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I Praise Thee!
Put your praise in a permanent place.
Praise God.
Praise someone in your family.
Or your whole family.
Praise a great person or great people.
Praise!
(Or, if nobody else will do it, praise yourself!)
Has something happened for which you are greatly thankful?
You can record it, such as "Thank you to fireman Todd Williams for saving my life!"
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I Pray!
Mark a prayer that is special to you.
Mark a prayer that the world needs... today and for a long time.
Mark a prayer for someone special, whether that someone is still with us or has moved on.
Mark a prayer for a family, village, country, or group of people.
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I Express!
Mark your opinion down - permanently - for all to see like "Cozumel,
Mexico - scuba paradise!"
Make a prediction and then point back to it when it comes true, for
example "Stephen Wilks predicts manned splaceflight to Mars by 2050."
Express an idea that others call crazy, but you want remembered.
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I Love!
Mark a message declaring your love for the most special person in your life.
Or most special people.
Mark a message of love to someone you miss.
Declare your engagement boldly and permanently!
Mark a message of love to your children, grandchildren and family.
Express your love.
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(I Confess)
When you need to make a confession that's really important, mark it in stone.
You can mark it above ground or below ground.
You can lock it out so others cannot view it or you can place it boldly for all to see.
There is something freed from our human psyche when we confess, like a great burden lifted.
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(I Have a Secret)
Sometimes we have secrets that we must keep, but we really want to share.
You can mark it above ground or below ground.
You can mark it completely hidden so it does not appear on the website or
boldly for all to see (but then it won't be secret anymore).
A coded message is a secret in plain view.
You choose how to record your secret.
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I Declare!
There is so much that happens in our lives.
Declare a wedding.
Declare a birth.
Declare a graduation.
Declare an engagement.
Declare a promotion.
Declare a certification.
Declare an accomplishment.
Declare a win.
You can declare it for yourself, for another, or for a group.
For example, "Glastonbury HS, State Soccer Champs, 1981" or
"Averyl Juliette promoted to CEO of TealRay Media 2008-2-15".
There are many things worth declaring!
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Tips
The following are tips to help you compose your message to mark on stone.
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Group messages: If you are part of a group and you all want to leave messages that flow
together across the face of the stone, then coordinate recording your messages at the same time
during off-peak hours on the same stone face.
Most messages follow sequentially to the order they were marked.
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Dates: Although we have a number of ways to express the date today -
such as "12/5/08" (American)
or "5/12/08" (European)
or "Dec 5th, 2008"
or "December 5, 2008" -
we recommend you stick with the standard of year-month-day, e.g. "2008-12-5" so future readers
can quickly determine the date you intended.
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Saving space: The cost of your message is determined by how much space it requires to be
marked.
- Reduce the width of your message if you can:
skip trailing punctuation, such as a period;
- Use lowercase letters instead of upper case letters (upper case letters tend to be wider);
- Use simpler words with fewer letters;
- Use well known abbreviations (but perhaps not as extreme as Instant Messaging abbreviations);
- Skip on the use of bold letters;
- Use single quotes instead of double quotes;
- Avoid new paragraphs (blank space at the end of paragraphs takes up space); consider using "/" to start a new line or paragraph.
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