Grandma's Headstone Grabs Attention for Having Her Signature Fudge Recipe Engraved on It | "She Would Be Thrilled People Can Have a Taste"

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on June 11, 2021. It has since been updated.

The brevity of life can be very terrifying at times, especially when you aren't sure about the legacy you're leaving behind. That surely wasn't the case for Kathryn Andrews, who made sure that a delicious part of her life lived on even after her death. Kathryn was 97 when she passed away in December 2019. She now rests beside her "soulmate" husband Wade in Utah's Logan City Cemetery. That being said, her death was not the end of her will as she made sure that her signature fudge recipe was engraved on her headstone. I mean, who would mind a good fudge recipe, that too from someone as experienced as Kathryn?

It's not every day that we see a headstone engraved with a priceless recipe, but that's who Kathryn was. She loved spreading laughter and love wherever she went as per the headstone which read: "Wherever she goes, there's laughter." Speaking to KSTU, Kathryn's daughter Janice Johnson said, "She really loved people. She would write poetry, and she would take fudge whenever people got together." Not only that, but she would also keep Tootsie Rolls in her purse in case she encountered children who were having a rough day. Kathryn, who was lovingly known as "Kay," was the kind of person who always looked out for people and cared for them.

When her husband Wade passed away in 2000, Kay wished to choose special symbols that would be engraved on his side of their headstone to represent the life he led. This brainstorming session led her children to suggest that Kay should also pick something that could be engraved on her headstone in her memory. To their surprise, she chose her fudge recipe to memorialize herself and share it with others. In the recent day, her gravestone gained a lot of attention after images of her signature fudge memorial began circulating on the internet.

To prepare the recipe, you first need to melt two squares of chocolate and two tablespoons of butter on the low heart. Next, stir in a cup of milk, bring it to a boil and add three cups of sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, and a pinch of salt. "Cook to softball stage. Pour on marble slab, cool & beat & eat," continues the headstone. Janice said that the original headstone had a "typo" which called for one tablespoon of vanilla, which could result in "runny fudge." But it was updated and now it contains the accurate quantity i.e. one teaspoon.

"I knew that the headstone had been circulating on Pinterest for like a long time now," Emily, Kay's granddaughter, told ABC4. "Since my grandpa passed away, when I was eight years old, I knew it was kind of internet famous. But yeah, I didn't expect it to be on the news this week." The family shared that Kay was aware that her monument had become famous before she passed away. If she was alive today, Kay would have been quite pleased to know that her headstone is making people happy even after her death. "I think she would be thrilled that people can have a taste of her recipe," said Emily. "That's what she was all about, sharing with people, so I think she would love it."

After all, that's what Kay was hoping for in the first place. All she wanted was to spread joy and share her recipe with everyone. "It just goes to show like how loving she is and how much she loved people and she was always doing things for her neighbors and her church too," she added. "It reflects on her as a person." Although Kay is not alive to witness the impact, it's quite uplifting to know that she had left behind a lovely legacy that is sure to make people happy for ages to come.

References:

https://www.abc4.com/news/digital-exclusives/kays-fudge-a-grandmothers-message-on-tombstone-goes-viral/

https://www.fox13now.com/news/uniquely-utah/sweet-message-on-utah-headstone-is-shared-around-the-world

Cover image source: YouTube Screenshot | Fox 13 New Utah