From The Past: March 8, 2007

The closest I have ever gotten to know the inner workings of a funeral home came from watching episodes of Six Feet Under.

After watching this show, I would like to say that funeral homes don’t bother me. I would like to say that a dead body is just that – a dead body, a shell.

I think I could say these things during the day, when it is nice and bright outside and the sun is pouring through the funeral home windows. The nighttime, however would be a very different thing though.

I have a friend who has a job cleaning a funeral home at night, after visitations are complete. She and her partner just recently acquired this job and they agreed to help each other. Unfortunately, the partner has been very sick this week, so my friend had to clean the funeral home alone.

Just imagine walking into a funeral home around 10 at night and seeing body #1 laid out in the front parlor and body #2 laid out in the back parlor. The caskets are open.

My friend has been told to let someone know if she sees any embalming fluid leaking from the mouths of the bodies. Lovely.

Last night as my friend stepped down into the dank basement in her clogs, she slipped and fell. She called her partner on her cell phone saying she thought she had broken her ankle and he might have to come over. As they talked, she was able to get up and hobble around. Assuring him that she would call him if she needed him, she hobbled to a closet to get supplies. I believe she described this closet as being made of stone and dirt; a very moist, creepy closet is what I imagine.

When she opened the closet door, there was a gurney sitting inside and it looked as though there was a body lying on it under a sheet. She quickly closed the door and called her partner back, telling him he needed to get over there. She was freaked out. Think about it. It’s nighttime, and she’s in a funeral home ALONE with dead bodies all around her.

The partner came and brought the two children he was watching with him. What choice did he have? He went to the closet and confirmed that, yes, that was a fresh body that had not as yet, been embalmed.

My friend informed me at this point in our conversation that dead bodies look different before they are embalmed. She said their arms, fingers, and legs have not been straightened, so they are in odd positions. I didn’t really need nor want to know this, but alas, I do. I will try my best not to dwell on these things as I try to sleep at night!

You may wonder what the children thought.

Let me point something out before I go on. Many children are raised in funeral homes. They are used to seeing dead bodies and what goes on. If explained correctly, I do not think it is harmful for a child to see a dead body.

I think it was scary at first for one of the children because they had been told as they drove by, “That is where they take the dead bodies.”

If I were a child, hearing that would freak me out too. So, there was a bit of crying and “I want to go home. Just take me back home.” being said. However, after the initial fright, the children would run into the parlor, look at the body, and then run back out. Apparently, this continued until my friend and her partner were finished cleaning. In their small minds, they probably wanted to reassure themselves that this person was not moving.

I am sure I will hear more of these stories if they keep the job. I can hardly wait.