There’s a lot of paperwork involved when a person passes away. More paperwork, I believe, than people realize. Below, I talk about one very important document, a certified death certificate. I explain the information funeral directors are required to fill in at the time of a passing and different things you may need a certified copy for.
A few months ago I sat down with my friend Matt Roberts from the Mount Calvary Cemetery Group to answer different questions regarding the cremation process.
This was something we had wanted to do for a while, so it was fun for us to actually sit down and connect. We want to do another video together, so make certain that you watch the one below and leave your questions in the comment section!
I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m a huge fan of Caleb Wilde. Is fan even the correct word to use when referring to a colleague within the same industry? Is colleague the correct word to use when you’ve never met the person in person? Am I being too technical in the introduction of this post? These questions may never have answers, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I like Caleb and enjoy his blog Confessions of a Funeral Director.
I’m not even certain how I stumbled upon Caleb’s blog. I remember reading his post 10 Burdens Funeral Directors Carry, exchanging a few tweets back and forth, and before I knew it, he had asked me if he could feature my post, The Top 5 Things You Should Know About Funeral Directors, on his blog. By the time it went live on his blog, Little Miss Funeral experienced the most traffic, well, ever. (Thanks, Caleb!)
Why am I sharing all of this with you? Well, because I want you to know that I am biased. I can relate to Caleb. We both come from a Christian background. We both work for family funeral homes. We both have been burned out and depressed. So when I found out he was writing a book, I grabbed my credit card and preordered it right away.
Confessions of a Funeral Director: How the Business of Death Saved My Life was the first book that I ever “reviewed” on my YouTube channel. I put “reviewed” in quotations because I realized that I am horrible at actually reviewing things. I basically ramble on for five minutes and thirty four seconds about how much I enjoyed the book while trying to throw in some pros and cons about it because that’s what my husband told me to do (who actually reviews things over at his website, The Geekiverse, and knows how to do a proper review).
Regardless of your religious background and personal beliefs, or if you’re involved in the funeral industry or not, Caleb shares very personal experiences and details in his book. If you come from a similar background you’ll find yourself shaking your head in agreement at some things he says. If you don’t, you’re still invited to understand a little bit more about an unfamiliar world. His book deserves a place among your collection.
Still don’t believe me? Watch me ramble on about it for five minutes and thirty four seconds below.
Okay, but seriously, buy his book here.
I told you I was a fan.
Hi everyone! I’ve been so bad about sharing my YouTube videos on my blog, so I’m going to try to post a few of them every other day until I’m caught up. Or at least post them until I get busy with work and forget!
The next one that I want to share involves a little story of my first job interview (that kind of wasn’t a job interview) and some suggestions that I have for those who are looking to work in a funeral home. I hope you enjoy it.
It’s happening again.
I’m feeling myself tumble-down that rabbit hole just like Alice.
One thing, that I want to state before I go further, is that I love my job. I really and truly love being a funeral director. But I would be lying if I said it was easy.
The funeral home where I’m currently employed does quite a lot of calls every year. In fact, when I tell people the amount of calls we do, they’re often taken aback. It’s a small building with two funeral directors, one full-time assistant, a trade guy, and part-time help that I can count on one hand. It doesn’t make sense, how everything can get done. But it does, and we do a damn good job.
It’s a joke, it really is, that anytime the owner goes on vacation, everyone in my town dies. This past week and a half was no exception. Ten death calls in ten days. Seven full funerals (visitations, church services, burials). One cremation with a memorial service. Two direct cremations. And I was the only funeral director in the building.
I find myself conflicted emotionally during these times. In one way, I crave these challenges. I drown myself completely with work and the families that I serve because I love proving to myself that I can do it all and do it well. I get a high off of this. Instead of cracking under the pressure I push myself harder to be a better funeral director. My organization was so spot on and communication with my assistant so clear that these services could not have run smoother. I’m proud of myself.
But in the same breath, I only have so much inside of me that I can give. Today was the last burial. The phone hasn’t rung. And now that I’m coming down from my high, I’m tired.
Compassion fatigue is a real thing. And now, it’s almost eleven at night on a Saturday and I’m feeling the pull. I’m feeling myself slipping because I haven’t had a break and for a moment, I’ve forgotten how to take care of myself. I know the steps. I know what I have to do. But when you’ve fallen down that rabbit hole in the past, the route can be just a little too familiar.
So I wanted to write this down, to remind myself that I’m human. Sometimes, I do an exceptional job being a funeral director. And sometimes, I let all the bad stuff choke me. I have to talk about it, because it’s not bad that I’m feeling these emotions. It would be bad if I didn’t share these things and hid them away all to myself. There are resources to help me and people who care about me. This is just a little bump in my journey, not my destination.
Hi everyone, remember me?
I know that I’ve been terrible at blogging this year. I’ve had a lot of personal things going on that I’ll be able to talk more about in a few months, but to say the least, I’ve been busy. I have been able to somewhat keep up with my YouTube channel (not completely, but much better than I have been with writing.) So below, you can watch a video where I talk about dogs in funeral homes, but more importantly, where my dog Lindy Ruff makes a special guest appearance.
Having a dog helps my mental state tremendously. Lindy is 45 pounds of pure snuggle and love when I come home from work and he immediately lifts my mood. I hope you like the video and don’t worry, I promise I’ll be posting more on here soon!
(Also if you want more videos on grief therapy dogs and their training you can check out this video from TalkDeath and The Modern Mortician)
One thing that you tend to do a lot of in funeral service is talk. You talk to small groups during arrangements. You talk in front of larger groups on days of services. You talk one on one with a grieving widow. Mortuary school did not prepare me properly for all of the public speaking that comes along with this job.
In this video, I talk about my own tips and tricks that have been passed down to me by others and ones that I’ve picked up myself throughout my eight years of burying people.
little miss funeral