Funeral Directors and Morticians

My daughter wanted to be a mortician. She took the prerequisites for mortuary school, business classes, biology and anatomy, and cosmetology. I called a friend of mine to see if he knew a home where she could intern. He told me to steer her in a different direction as the business changed and there wasn't much money in it any longer. She switched to biotechnology and works as a chemist now. I'm glad she switched majors. Mortuary is creepy to me.
 
...He told me to steer her in a different direction as the business changed and there wasn't much money in it any longer.
Which seems crazy to me because even a basic package with a single viewing is like $6-8K in my area.
 
This thread is quite topical 🙁
I'm at the dinner after my grandfathers wake
Tomorrow, the Church and burial in the family plot, with his parents 🤌
At one of the best Italian spots in South Brooklyn, because Italian American things 🤷‍♂️
He loved Nathan's 🌭
Seeing the dead body of a loved one is of course sad, but it is a fact of life, and it will come for all of us, whether we like it for not
It's not for everyone, but my parents never sugar coated life, I learned proper dress/etiquette/having flowers sent from a very young age

I had to run out to Target for a Bluetooth speaker, for an honorary round of Frank Sinatra's My Way 🥰

We should all make it to 82

And if your wondering what it costs to pass away these days, from start to finish, about $16k
 
I plan to live forever .... so far, it's working out ok.

There is a Funeral Home in my area run by a family with the last name of Amigone.
People joke about the last name .... Am I Gone?

 
I believe its the law if youre doing open casket. When my father passed he was getting cremated. For his service we had an open casket and were told that they must embalm him by law even he was getting cremated after the service. No open casket no embalming.
Some states perhaps but not all. Wisconsin has no such law but individual funeral homes may have their own requirement.
 
Which seems crazy to me because even a basic package with a single viewing is like $6-8K in my area.
There's money in it if you own the funeral home but they are not paying much.
 
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My father was somewhat of a nut who did not understand how bodies change after death. He wanted an open casket funeral, but did not want to be embalmed, He died suddenly of a massive stroke, My mother, who knew even less, followed his wishes, but delayed burying him a few days so all relatives could attend, So they were keeping his body in cold storage, By the time of the funeral his body dehydrated some, and his facial expression looked like a prune.

Not the greatest final memory picture.

I knew someone whose daughter was attending Mortuary school. I told him all the boys were dying to meet her.
 
Same here. Why do we have open casket funerals?
Tradition, marketing, after all its a big money maker for the industry.
I honestly believe there is a shift toward cremation now. At least as far as our family members and siblings.
Something that seemed strange to us decades ago with every family member, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, having traditional funeral homes, showings, burials ect. I guess the question could be asked, why?

I dont know anyone of my family members/siblings that want any of the above anymore, we all want to be cremated. I mean, you're gone, go in peace and we do not want to burden others with arrangements, costs, stress, it's stressful enough. I think also many family members are in many more places around the country than decades ago adding to more stress and arranging things.

This change in thinking towards cremation is big for us because no one in my family circle ever knew anything different. Growing up one half of my family tree was hardcore Italian and everything that was done was the whole shebang, weddings, funerals and everything in-between. That even goes for the other half as well.
 
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Tradition, marketing, after all its a big money maker for the industry.
I honestly believe there is a shift toward cremation now. At least as far as our family members and siblings.
Something that seemed strange to us decades ago with every family member, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, having traditional funeral homes, showings, burials ect. I guess the question could be asked, why?

I dont know anyone of my family members/siblings that want any of the above anymore, we all want to be cremated. I mean, you're gone, go in peace and we do not want to burden others with arrangements, costs, stress, it's stressful enough. I think also many family members are in many more places around the country than decades ago adding to more stress and arranging things.

This change in thinking towards cremation is big for us because no one in my family circle ever knew anything different. Growing up one half of my family tree was hardcore Italian and everything that was done was the whole shebang, weddings, funerals and everything in-between. That even goes for the other half as well.


The trend is definitely towards cremation and has been that way for a number of years now. It has picked up a lot in recent years. Another trend is somewhat going back to the old custom of having a family plot and everyone gets placed in it after cremation.
 
Composting of human remains is now legal in 6 states, including New York and Vermont. No, they don't throw you outdoors into a compost pile. Its a controlled, closed and clean process. The end result, they combine your composted remains with soil and it is spread to the outdoors.

There is something comforting to the idea of passing one's body into nutrients for a few new trees.
 
I live near a large university community, so I have exposure to lots of different cultural funeral customs. I think the U.S. has desensitized the funeral process. It's not unlike our meat industry where we are not aware of the slaughterhouse background of our neat, cellophane covered grocery store offerings. I'm with the group here that consider death a natural process not to have fear about.

The funeral industry is a sham similar to the wedding industry.
 
The funeral industry is a sham similar to the wedding industry.
The fraud and misrepresentation of community mausoleum "dead storage" is criminal, in my mind. Instead of dry storage free of "unfriendly earth elements", they never tell you about phorid flies and bodies turning to gooey soup.
 
So my Nephew never came home one night from work. Had a heart attack and was found dead the next AM. 38 years old.

Preface to this: A few years back, his wife decided to be a mortician and attended school. Performed in her line of work a few years. Seemed like a nice gal, just kind of a weird duck to me.

So at the open casket funeral, we found out she embalmed her own husband! Planned on cremation after the funeral, so they had one of those burn-it caskets. She put sticky notes and pens, and invited us all to put them on the casket.

Jason's Brother wrote, to the nicest (edit - Mod) I have ever known to his dead Brother. After the funeral, she pushed him into the fire box.

Can anyone beat this "real life" stuff? I thought it was strange, but I am an old man. I guess who is going to care for the body though, better than family?
They did that years ago and had funerals at the home. Just still trying to grasp the whole thing!
We are but a hollow vessel after death.
 
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