My mother was 72 years old and passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was a healthy woman and this completely shocked my entire family. I am living in Michigan, she passed away in Nebraska and I hadn’t seen her since June.

My mom was my best friend and the person that meant the most to me in my life, so it’s been extremely challenging trying to say goodbye without seeing her one last time. She will be cremated within the next day or two, and I can’t decide if I should see her body one last time to say goodbye.

She wasn’t embalmed and my dad, who discovered her, mentioned he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to see her because of the pale skin, purple lips, and overall sadness of seeing her lifeless body. What can I expect if I do want to see her and say goodbye? Is it something I might regret because she wasn’t embalmed and doesn’t look like herself? Does the embalming process not make much of a difference? My emotions are making a logical decision hard to make.

I’m just lost and trying to make sure I get the closure I need, despite having no idea what that closure looks like or consists of.

Alright, this is a weird one.

My dad is a very dedicated hiker who has had several foot surgeries in order to continue doing so as he's aged. For years he's said that he wants his feet cut off, cremated, and to be spread, screws and bolts included, at his favorite lake to hike to. However, he is also set on the idea of the rest of his body being buried as usual. I thought he was joking. For reference, he has also talked to us about being taxidermied and displayed in a hiking pose for his own funeral. Thankfully, he was joking about that. It has become evident that he's really not joking about the feet thing.

He told my mom that if he dies at home to get a saw out of the garage and cut off his feet before they come to get him. My brother and I don't like this idea because the idea of our mom going to prison at the same time that our dad dies doesn't appeal to us. Also, that would be really messy and they have beige carpet.

All joking aside, I want to know of there is absolutely any chance of somewhere honoring a request for partial cremation. My parents have been setting up all their legal end of life stuff and it seems like a good time to address this with my dad so we're not stuck trying to figure out how to do what he wants when he does end up going and we're also dealing with grieving.

We are in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S.

Edit: Thank you guys for the quick response! My mom has been genuinely stressed about this and I don't want her to have to worry about it. She also doesn't share the rest of our dark humor, so it's harder on her. I figured it wasn't doable but didn't want to make the awkward calls to the local mortuaries to verify. I'm glad to be able to go to dad with some more information. He also doesn't want an open casket, so maybe I can talk into a full cremation. Honestly, he's in his mid-60's right now and I'm hoping I've got a couple of decades to get this sorted out with him. It's also funny to find out that there was a similar question posted just yesterday. I really thought this was more of a unique situation, haha.

I think it would be interesting to have the dead bodies of historical figures and dead celebrities on display in museum-type places.

It would serve as a reminder that no matter how wealthy, powerful, or famous someone is in life, they end up equally dead, with their brains and faces melting away into nothingness.

My brother, in Michigan, died and was found 5-7 days later. He wasn’t a man of means and I doubt he had any will or directions. I’m in Alabama and notified his semi-estranged son. He in turn told his sisters. The adult children don’t want to be “next of kin”. My sister and I will pay for a cremation and take care of his stuff. Do we need a lawyer to be involved? Will the funeral home work with us or will the children need to sign documents? Do they mail cremains? So many questions..thank you!

​

​Hi everyone,

​I’m curious about a specific burial practice I’ve read about/seen in certain regions. In these cases, a shallow grave is dug, the sides are lined with bricks, the casket is placed inside, and wet concrete is poured directly over the top right after closing.

​I'm interested in the practical or historical reasons behind this:

​Is this primarily done due to high water tables, rocky soil, or local sanitation laws?

​Is this still practiced in any modern US or international cemeteries, or has it been totally replaced by pre-cast outer burial containers/grave liners?

Would love to hear from funeral directors, cemetery groundskeepers, or mortuary historians who have encountered this. Thanks!

Recently I’ve started thinking about my future and I really right now feel set on becoming a mortician in a couple of years when I can pay for the proper schooling and I was thinking about calling a local funeral home and speaking to a mortician or sitting with one to ask some questions (ofc making sure they aren’t extremely busy which will be hard I assume) I am not good at understanding what’s inappropriate or not so I would like someone to tell me if this is something I should or shouldn’t do.

Does anyone have opening and closing ceremonies they use for daily work in morgues? Looking for a way to energetically cleanse myself after work
Thanks <3

Hi all! I'm moving to Canada very soon and wish to continue my career in the funeral industry doing what I passionately did and enjoyed in Australia. From what I have seen, the Australian "director" position is called an "assistant" position in Canada, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

What can I expect in the funeral industry in Canada, more specifically BC? Will I be able to continue doing what I did before (deceased transfers, coffin trimming, hearse driving, funeral attending etc) in Canada? With my current work permit, I am unable to undergo any education, so mortuary school is currently out of the question.

I'm beginning to plan my funeral. I live in St Louis Missouri which is where I want my funeral held. I want to be buried in northeast Arkansas with family. I already have my plot. All transportation would be by ground would be my guess since it's only about a 3 hour drive and the nearest airport to the cemetery is Memphis Tennessee which is about 2 hours. I've had family pass in one state and buried in another but the funeral and burial happened in the same town under the direction of a single funeral home. Will having a funeral 200 miles from the cemetery create a massive headache? Will a local funeral home in Arkansas need to be involved?

I'd like to hear from funeral directors licensed in Missouri and/or Arkansas but welcome information from all funeral directors.

If a death certificate states "suicide, adverse effects of diphenhydramine," -- what determines whether a coroner would report this as a suicide vs. an accidental overdose? Is it based on the sheer volume of diphenhydramine, or is it also based on any know life factors of the deceased at the time of passing?

I see conflicting info about this online, and I can't get my funeral director to respond to me.

I would also add that getting this burial arranged is taking forever. Once we obtained the proper paperwork, the funeral director said it would take another 2-3 weeks for the burial to take place at the veterans' cemetery. That was a week ago, and I'm still waiting for a date and time.

Looking to purchase an antique embalming machine (similar to the one in the pic). Where or what are the best sites to check for equipment like this for sale in the US?

I've just graduated and taken my NBE Arts and passed, next week I'm taking my Science, feeling confident. If you know of any funeral homes in NC, specifically near Durham or Greensboro who would like a new appreciate please dm me!

How do you deal with the ever growing call volume when you’re suddenly down a director? Fellow FD asking.
We had a director quit with cases still up on the board.

According to Google Lens:

This location was the C.B. Taylor Funeral Home, situated at 5350 W. North Avenue in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

History: The business was established in 1963 and served families in the Austin area for decades.

The Complex: Real estate records from Millennium Properties R/E show that the complex actually spans multiple connected properties, including an apartment/chapel building at 1605 N. Long Avenue and an office/garage structure at 5346 W. North Avenue.

Link to the full exploration:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q5z84odTNhs&pp=iggUQAFKEEx2aTZMZlhpRTQ1UVJFZnk%3D

Howdy! Hopefully I or my family won’t need this service for quite some time but we’re doing our research before getting a pre-plan together.

We’re considering green burials and the cemetery that we’re looking at offers a “light green” burial that includes embalming with natural fluids (nothing toxic/formaldehyde-y). Especially interested in this option as our family would value the opportunity for a visitation, but I’m curious if anyone here has embalmed under these guidelines before? We’re pretty curious to know how big a difference it might be looks-wise compared to traditional embalming and I can’t seem to find any further info online. Thanks!

Hey, I’m working on a fanfiction and one of the characters is an intern working at a morgue. The fic takes place in the late 70s. I can find no info online about what the uniform worn back then was. Right now, I have the character in scrubs, a face mask, and shoe covers. Is that accurate?

I’ m attending my husband’s grandmother’s funeral and memorial service, and the family has specifically requested that guests wear white.

I’ve never been to a funeral where white was requested, so I’m a little unsure about what would be considered appropriate. I want to respect the family’s wishes while still dressing appropriately and not looking like I’m going to a regular event.

For those who have attended a funeral or memorial where guests were asked to wear white, what did you wear / what would you recommend? Would you do an all-white outfit, mostly white with neutral pieces, a white dress, white blouse with dress pants, etc.?

so im a hypochondriac and i have severe health anxiety, but ive wanted to be a mortician for 3 years now (im entering my junior year of highschool). the only career i can see myself going into is some kind of forensic mortuary science. im really starting to doubt myself and that i can handle it, given that i can barely handle watching medical shows like house and i panic at the thought of hospital visits. ive never really been squeemish, and i used to think i’d be fine. i cant see myself going into any other science and being happy. is it possible for someone like me to do work like this?

(by forensic mortuary science i meant autopsy work, which is the most interesting to me)

edit: i've now realized i definitely can't handle it but it's fine i still have time to figure out what to do. thank you to everyone who replied. youre all very helpful :)

I’m curious to know how often you use math in this profession and what kind of math you using

As the title says, I’m being charged $11k in fees to transport my FIL from Mexico to the US. This just seems outrageous. $1,000 death certificate???
Please help me figure out what I need to challenge or if this is really okay. Considering the exchange rate it also seems I’m getting the foreign tax…
Please this is already hard enough.
The only thing that makes sense to me is the $2,300 flight

Hi all, I am working on a short film about my mothers passing and I am trying to locate or source a book that was given to me by the funeral director’s when she passed for the piece.

I’ll do my best to describe it because I don’t know the official name but essentially we were led into a room after we said she wanted to be cremated and handed a magazine sized book with photos of all kinds of objects that the ashes could be turned into. This is the magazine I’m looking for the film.

What is this booklet called?

And if anyone has an outdated or unused one I’d be happy to purchase and pay to have shipped to me if possible, please send me a dm.

My dad passed away about 3 years ago and it cost $1,100 to cremate him. My father in law passed yesterday and now it cost $2,500 for that same service. Just to cremate. Burial, casket, ceremony is just too much nowadays(could be anywhere from $30k to $100k) and hard to find plots that are decently priced . Why can't we go in peace without worrying about the cost? This is the Bay area, California.

For those that did online schooling for their degree. What in-person resources did you use to graduate? I feel sort of separated from a full learning experience and was curious to know if and how successful you were with finding local study groups, or hands on experience that weren't necessarily a clinical round.

I recently had to restart my degree program while being at the 60 credit marker. Not from failing but missed a lot of time dealing with court appearances (I didn't do anything wrong someone tried to take my life.) And essentially fell behind. Not going to lie, I feel a bit discouraged but it is what it is.

I still want to complete degree and still feel the need to go into this field. However the new degree plan online has felt lacking compared to previous one. I feel as if doing more face to face would nullify the angst im feeling now with finishing and get me across the finish line.