Many of us have the gift of moving through the grief process as we find a way — often after years and years of remaking — to put grief to a restless slumber. Anne Lamott writes, “You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news […]
This past week we had a funeral for a 23 year old whose alcohol problems caused an untimely death*. During the funeral — which was one of the more powerful funerals I’ve ever worked — the mother of this young man somehow mustered the strength to read the following poem. I don’t know who wrote the poem, […]
I’m a funeral director. Have been for the past 10 years. And during those ten years, I’ve helped numerous families memorialize miscarriages and still born babies. As a male who often finds himself in that “insensitive” category, I used to secretly wonder why there’s a desire to memorialize those not yet born. After all, what’s to memorialize? […]
The following post was originally a guest post on Michelle Van Loon’s blog, “Pilgrim’s Road Trip.” The author of the post, who wishes to remain anonymous, wrote the following message to me via facebook: Last June we accepted a foster placement of twin girls who were four months old. We’ve been foster parents for almost 7 years, but nothing […]
Last Friday, I posted this photo on my Confessions of a Funeral Director Facebook Page. Since I posted it, over 2,000,000 people have viewed it. Many have asked, “Where is this gravestone located?” “Who is the gravestone for?” And various other questions. Here’s Matthew Stanford Robison’s “Find a Grave” page that will answer most of your […]