Working On The Fourth

I ended up working some on the 4th, but I still got to cook out with my family. It rained on us, so we moved the grill onto our porch and finished the bbq. The ribs turned out well, despite my inexperience.

My work was unexpected, though. I was on call, and about 5:45am I get a call. I make the removal and talk to the friends of the family who were still there (the family had left before I arrived). We weren't sure what the family wanted to do, so I asked the friends if they knew what the family had in mind. They told me visitation and burial at the National Cemetery. This means we would be embalming. I take the body back to the funeral home and get everything ready for the embalming process, then I go home and go back to bed. (I had stayed up extra late the night before watching old movies on TCM). About 9:45am I get a call from the owner, asking if I can come in and help him out with the embalming and other tasks. So I give myself a quick shave, get dressed and head in to work. He's just finishing arrangements with the family, so I begin calling the church for mass and filling out the burial application for the cemetery. Once I get everything done, I assist with the embalming. We finished that job and were preparing to leave when we got a call from the wife of the pastor of my church. One of our members had just lost their spouse. So they come in and make the arrangements while we wait for the body to be released. By the time the body is released, it's about 2:15 or so. I head over to pick up the body and the family is there! I didn't expect they would be there, so I give them time to say their goodbyes, then they left and I made the removal. I finally got home around 3:15 or 3:30. I had told my wife that morning when I left that I should be home by 1. I would have been, too, except for the extra call. Still, I got to enjoy half the day off and spend time with my family, and it was a good day.