The New York State Legislature will soon vote on whether composting (like we do with our kitchen waste) of human remains will become legal. If it passes (sadly,that seems likely), New York will become the third state to allow this desecration. The Morte Girls want to go on record as to our disgust. The human … Continue reading We Compost Trash, Not Our Mothers
One upon a time, a young woman walked into a funeral home in Queens, New York. She needed an after-school job to earn some money, while she worked her way through college, and the funeral home was hiring. She had dreams of one day becoming a great writer. Well, if not a great one, at … Continue reading A Dying Business
As the winter of 2020 turned to spring, the death toll from Covid-19 seemed insurmountable. For funeral directors, it was the darkest and most challenging time we’ve ever faced. In an industry built on personal contact and a deep sense of tradition, we could count on neither. “The idea of not being able to do … Continue reading Post Pandemic Funeral Service – Can We Find Some Normalcy?
An essential component of our role as funeral directors is to maintain the sanctity of our work and protect the privacy of those in our care. Something that continues to trouble me is the prurient interest some have in the most private part of funeral service. “I want to watch? Can I?” It is an … Continue reading I Want to Watch
A Funeral Home Director's View of the Pandemic In this article I wrote for Next Avenue, three seasoned, and respected, NYC funeral directors shared their thoughts and experiences with me. They were hard to hear, and even harder to write about, but such is the reality in these dark days. Funeral directors are doing all … Continue reading A Funeral Home Director’s View of the Pandemic
Five Things I've learned in my long career as a funeral director I was pleased to share my view of funeral service with Life. Death. Whatever., gleaned from the work I’ve done, the experiences of my colleagues, and the perspective of the thousands of families I’ve served over the years. Despite what you may read … Continue reading Five Things
The funeral as we know it is becoming a relic — just in time for a death boom blared the Washington Post headline. Whoever wrote this garbage must have scoured the depths of kook-dom. This article bears no resemblance to what funeral directors do on a daily basis. Perhaps if newspapers interviewed actual, experienced funeral … Continue reading Fake Funeral News
How a Common Death Ritual Made It Harder to Mourn the Loss of My Mother We can barely contain our disgust at this article. In essence, the writer is complaining that the funeral home made her deceased mother look too good, and it has traumatized her. She writes: "I thought she was alive again. She … Continue reading How a Common Death Ritual Made It Harder to Mourn the Loss of My Mother ————-Say What!?
This post originally appeared on sixtyandme.com 6 IMPORTANT FACTS WE CAN LEARN FROM THE FUNERAL OF PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH
Southern Calls is a prestigious funeral service journal. The SouthernCalls.com website has interesting articles and images on their pages that are a mix of old and new. The Funeral Profession page has two separate pages, The Present and The Past. The Present page has this as its headline: THE PRESENT Steeped in history, defined by … Continue reading Definition of Funeral Service
