Monthly Archives: November 2009

During the summer days, the cemetery stays open until 7pm.  As it begins to get dark earlier, they switch the closing time to 5pm.  Not realizing the hours were changing, I visited Alexander in the early evening and got locked in.  Thankfully, the caretaker was still on the grounds and was able to unlock the gate for me.  I don’t know what I would have done otherwise.

Thursday was a busy day.  In addition to getting locked in the cemetery, I also got an education on taxes.  As usual, Dan and I were among the late filers.  Our accountant called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that our tax forms had been rejected because of Alexander’s social security number and that we’d have to file manually.

I finally picked up the taxes and while there, I reviewed the rejection note and asked for more explanation.  Our accountant didn’t know specifically why the rejection happened but we both guessed it was because the social security office had been notified of Alexander’s passing.  Apparently, when taxes are filed electronically, the social security numbers are first transmitted to the social security office to verify their validity.  Who knew?  Since I haven’t had the energy to contact them yet, I guess the hospital or medical examiner’s office must have notified them.

I checked online and sure enough there are a few genealogy websites which allow you to search the social security death index (I’m not kidding.  That’s really what it’s called) and Alexander’s name is listed there.  I couldn’t believe there were only 6 Alexander Dodsons in the index.  Aside from our sweet little boy, there were 2 born in the late 1800s and 3 born in the 1900s.

The index even includes the social security number.  With records being so automated and easily checked these days, I guess it’s a little difficult to steal the identity of these folks but still, it seems odd that their numbers are listed.

It made me sad to see Alexander’s name because it was yet another reminder of our loss.