So how great is the family feud in legendary evangelist Billy Grahams family over where he and his wife, Ruth, will be buried one day? Like all larger-than-life Americans, there always seems to be controversy with life and death issues.For a week, the media has been reporting and speculating on how deep a division exists for the five Graham children and their octogenarian and fragile parents. Should they be buried in Charlotte, N.C., near the museum and library being erected near the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquarters? Or should their remains one day go to The Cove, a Bible training center near the mountainside home near Montreat, N.C.?Certainly, the most famous American evangelist, who made the Bible crusade an international phenomenon filling stadiums night after night, will attract travelers to his grave long after he is gone. Seems the Graham youngest son, Ned Graham, 48, wants the folks buried on the mountain site, while the well-known Rev. Franklin Graham, the 54-year-old heir to the famed ministry, insists the burial spot be at The Cove, a $25 million, 40,000-square foot museum in the state capital. The Cove will seek to create a farm setting to look like where the evangelist grew up outside of Charlotte. Billy Graham, 88, is nearly blind and suffers from Parkinsons disease and declining health, while Ruth Bell Graham, 86, is bedridden and has spinal degeneration. Its said she is in constant pain while curled up in a hospital bed.The Washington Post called the family debate a struggle worthy of the Old Testament, pitting together brother against brother, son against mother and leaving the famous fathertrapped in the middle pondering what to do. Ned, its reported, has abidingly cared for his mother for nearly four years. The Post said Ruth signed a notarized documents with six witnesses, saying she wanted them buried in the mountain resting place. But its said that she has tended to agree with the last person who talked to her.Seems part of the family objects to The Cove. Consultants had worked with the Walt Disney Co. to create a large barn and silo a reminder of Billy Grahams early childhood on a dairy farm near Charlotte. As it is planned, visitors will pass through a 40-foot tall glass entry cut in the shape of a cross and be greeted by a mechanical talking cow. From there, visitors will walk on path of straw through rooms of exhibits. At the end, a stone walkway, also shaped like a cross, will take them to a garden were the Grahams will have been interred. The Post also reports that tourists will have more than one chance to get their names on a mailing list and later be solicited for funds. According to the news story, the Post reporter sat in on a session with Billy and Ruth, while crime novelist Patricia Cornwell gave her first-hand account of touring The Cove building site. Cornwell accused the planners of making The Cove an evangelistic fund-raising experience. Its a mockery. People are going to laugh. Please dont be buried there, she tells the couple. Billy Grahams eyes never leave Cornwells face as she talks. Ruth Graham sighs. A lot, reporter Laura Sessions Stepp writes. That prompts Ruth to add, Its a circus … a tourist attraction. According to the account, Ned Graham has been earnestly trying to get the three Graham daughters, Gigi, Bunny and Anne, to take his side.Franklin Graham told the Post that no decision had been made and both sites were under study. As for the museum, he said, I wanted to show to another generation of pastors and evangelists what God did through a man who was faithful and who communicated it simply. After a weekend of buzz, Billy Graham released a six-paragraph statement Monday saying that, despite media reports, he and Ruth have no disagreement about our future, for we know that after we each take our last breath on earthh, we will be together in heaven. That wont be long, he said. After 63 years of marriage, the decision on where to be buried will be theirs alone, he said. I love all five of our wonderful children. Through the years in our discussion about religion, politics and domestic situations, there have been many opinions and often disagreements, but our family remains close and united in our deep faith in God. He lauded all who are making the library at The Cove a reality and a place for his personal papers. The statement made no mention of the mountaintop retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Might be a big hint there. The Grahams are not the first family to battle over where to put mom and dad when theyre gone.

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