I blamed the Bunny Bread man.  If he hadn’t parked where he did, she would have seen the oncoming traffic.  If she had seen the oncoming traffic, she wouldn’t have pulled out.  If she hadn’t pulled out, he wouldn’t have hit her.  And if he hadn’t hit her, she wouldn’t have died. He called the […]

It was late in the evening.  As best I remember, the sun had set and I was at home when my cell phone rang.  The appointed keeper of the funeral home phones was calling to give me a number . . . a number that belonged to a very distraught individual who was presently standing […]

“Cleaning and scrubbing can wait ‘till tomorrow, for babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow.  So quiet down cobwebs.  Dust, go to sleep.  I’m rocking my baby, and babies don’t keep.” I have always loved that poem, especially when my little ones were little.  It was like some random poet was giving me permission […]

Sunday morning ministers across the nation will mount their pulpits to address the fathers in attendance.  They will encourage them to assume or continue to fill their leadership roles in the family.  They will remind them that they are the heads of their respective households, the spiritual guardians and the providers of all necessities—and that […]

Honestly, I don’t know a funeral director in this world who springs out of bed in the middle of the night and, with ninja-like speed, throws on his or her clothes and dashes out the door on a death call.  As a matter of fact, it’s probably more like they roll over, stare at the […]

“We lost him in a senseless act that brought close to home the insidious rift of prejudice and intolerance that is too familiar, too common. He was resolute in his conduct (and) respect of all people.  In his final act of bravery, he held true to what he believed is the way forward. He will […]

This coming Monday is officially Memorial Day, the glorious ending to a slightly extended weekend that for years has marked the beginning of summer, even though summer is still a ways away.  There’ll be grilling and picnicking and bar-be-queing and all sorts of frivolity—but in the course of all the fun, maybe we need to […]

Recently a gentleman entered our office with a mission, a story, and a lot of questions, the primary one boiling down to “Is there anything that can be done?”   He was asking about preservation—not of human remains but of the past. It seems a very small, very old family cemetery was located on private property […]

About two seconds after I walked into the office she turned from her desk and said, “Now that you’re all here I want to ask your opinion about something.”  Given the three people about to be consulted, she should have been very afraid, but she continued without waiting for a reply.  I guess the fact […]

Not long ago we had a family request cremation for their deceased loved one; when we asked about the end destination for his ashes we were told the urn would be buried in a local cemetery along with that of his wife and three of their pets.  Those ashes had been in his home for […]