In a tiny village on the Irish coast lived Miss O'Kerry, an old lady, a
virgin and went to the town's undertaker (who also happened to be the local
postal clerk) to make proper "final" arrangements. As a last wish, she
informed the undertaker that she wanted the following inscription engraved
on her tombstone:
MARY O'KERRY-"BORN A VIRGIN, LIVED AS A VIRGIN, DIED A VIRGIN"
Not long after, the old maid died peacefully. A few days after the
funeral, as the undertaker--postal clerk went to prepare the tombstone
that the lady had requested, it became quite apparent that the tombstone
that she had selected was much too small for the wording that she had
chosen. He thought long and hard about how he could fulfill the old
maid' s final request, considering the very limited space available on the
small piece of stone.
For days, he agonized over the dilemma. But finally his experience as a
postal worker allowed him to come up with what he thought was the
appropriate solution to the problem.
The virgin's tombstone was finally completed and duly engraved, and it
read as follows:
MARY O'KERRY
RETURNED TO SENDER
UNOPENED
