Oh My Day, What A God

Wait. Strike that. Reverse it. It was a helluva day today. The new owner decided to take a week off. This leaves two directors to cover two funeral homes. Thankfully we haven't been that busy, but we still had a couple of calls last weekend. Today we had a funeral for one of those calls. Mass then the National Cemetery. I stayed behind while the other guys worked that service. Our secretary has been out with the flu all week so I was alone. I called the retired owner to tell him we were short and I was alone and what should I do if we get a call? He said to call him and he would come in and cover the phones while I went out. Sure enough, we got a call about an hour later. He came in and I made the removal. It is to be viewing/visitation, mass, then a local cemetery. The family wants all this as soon as possible, so we set visitation for Friday, with mass and burial on Saturday. I have never done a full burial arrangement before, so the retired owner decides I should do this one. He laid the groundwork and got most of the information over the phone. I set up the cemetery and the military honor guard, and he left it for me to have the family order flowers, pick out memorial cards and a casket. While we were embalming, the doorbell goes off, meaning someone has come in. I go up front only to find it's the mailman delivering. I return to the prep room to assist, and a few minutes later the doorbell goes off again. I go up front and it's a lady with two small children. She wanted information on prearrangements and cremation. I sit down with her for about 20 minutes trying to answer her questions, but her little crotch dumplings absolutely will not sit still for 2 seconds. Finally we finish up and I go get lunch for me and the retired owner. When I come back we eat, and he fills me in on what I need to do to finish this arrangement. They need to order flowers, pick cards, a casket, sign the paperwork, etc. The family shows up and we go over flowers, and they have a million questions about flowers. What kind can I get? How much is this? How much is that? Do you have some pictures I can look at? Can I get a Last Rosary? I want a Broken Heart arrangement. I want something from the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I want ribbons on every piece. This needs to say this. That needs to say that on it. Make sure the Last Rosary has tight, unopened buds. What's a video presentation? Can I get one? Will the priest come during the visitation for a vigil service?I spent about 45 minutes finalizing those arrangements. They spent over $600 on flowers. I get them taken care of, only to have someone come in a little while later. They want to talk about prearrangements and burial. I spent about 45 minutes or so with them showing them around and answering their questions. They leave with the information and I planned on getting the death certificate generated. I had confirmed that the doctor of record would sign, so I started that file, only to have more people come in. They are having a mass with cremated remains tomorrow, and needed some papers notarized, asked about death certificates and when the cremation was done and would mom fit in the container they gave us. I spent about 20 minutes with them, then I finally get the file finished and the death certificate entered and faxed to the doctor. Five minutes after I fax it I get a call. The doctor won't sign because the patient was on hospice. I said that I was told the doctor would. Well, they told me wrong. So I had to call hospice to confirm their doctor would sign. He will, so I get a new certificate with his name on it and fax it over. Then the granddaughter comes back with pictures for the video for visitation tomorrow. I go over a couple of things with her, including the fact that the social security number we were given doesn't match the Social Security Admin records. So we have to get that straightened out. I was so glad to see quitting time.