Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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67 SEPTEMBER 2019 CONTACT michaelupdike.net gravestone before they die. A lot of jokes and humor could be built into it. You have to be ready for each one. "The journey of getting the stone is what helps them recover and heal," he continues. "Not completely, but to a certain level where they can move on. There's a little bit of being a psychoanalyst, a little bit of being a pastor or minister, or just sometimes being a friend realizing their vision." Custom gravestones range in price between $4,000 and $15,000 per stone. Over the last five years Updike has carved more than one gravestone for himself, "with the idea of rendering it obsolete, of course," he says, his blue eyes twinkling. "The first one I did not put on a date. I put a bunch of numbers falling off a cliff. You're supposed to choose the most optimistic one. But I thought it artistically cowardice not to put the death date on your gravestone. And I'm happily here to carve yet another one." Michael Updike designed his father's gravestone for his memorial in Pennsylvania. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MICHAEL UPDIKE