My Son's Day At My Work

Today my son worked the afternoon visitation with me. He opened the door for visitors, guided them to the chapel, invited them to sign the guest book, all the usual visitation duties. He also helped me put out the flowers before the family arrived, as well as clean the restrooms and get the place ready for visitors. When we had the opportunity, I let him put together a Memorial Book for tomorrow night's Memorial service and enter a case file into our computer.

Overall, he found it a bit on the boring side. I will admit, he is right. Visitations can be dull sometimes. I know he would rather try some in-depth work dealing directly with the deceased, such as making a removal or taking a body to the crematory, or assisting with an embalming. However, most respectable funeral homes (including ours) do not let outsiders assist with or witness anything to do with handling the deceased. This is to preserve the dignity of the dead and protect the privacy of the next of kin.

This was my concern while I was attending school. I was three years into a five-year education before I was exposed to my first body. I had been wondering all that time if I would be able to cope. I suspected I would, because I always enjoyed watching those shows on TV such as "The Operation" or other medical shows like "Miami Morgue" or "Dr. G, Medical Examiner" that dealt with medical procedures and handling the dead. I was grateful when I witnessed my first embalming and found it was work that I would be able to do. But the question remains, for those who are considering a career in this field, as to how can they get that initial exposure and discover whether or not they have the stomach for the job?