My First Week

Well I have finished my first week as a funeral director. I am enjoying myself. I haven't had any transfers over the weekend as yet. My colleagues are fantastic to work with and are treating me with respect and not as 'outsider'. I even like my boss lol. One of my workmates even shouted me a pastry while another bought me a drink for afternoon smoko! For the first time in quite a while I am actually looking forward to going to work.

Last week I assisted at preparing bodies and coffins. The former involves cleaning the skin, cleaning the hair and some basic face work. Sometimes the eyes become sunken after death. To alleviate this we use an epoxy like liquid. Using a syringe we draw a small amount from two different bottles. We then slip the needle of the syringe above and below the eye. This 'Part A' and 'Part B' process forms a soft compound that plumps up the surrounding tissue and alleviates the sunken look. It also by nature eradicates some wrinkles and gives the deceased a more youthful look. The downside to using this product is the area around where it was injected goes white. This can be disguised later. The hair is washed with a product that smells like thinners. Once the body is washed the jaw is then sutured. This is a little disturbing. The suture goes up through the nasal cavity and back down again, through the soft tissue near the jaw and is tied off.  This keeps the mouth closed. If the mouth still doesn't want to shut, there is another, more brutal method of suturing the jaw. Suturing happens with every body. The sutures are hidden and can not be seen. The body is then dressed with clothes provided - usually by the family. Makeup is then applied. Male bodies only get a light application. The body is ready to be transferred to the coffin.
 
The coffin chosen is dictated by the person's pre-need/pre-paid plan or by the family if a plan doesn't exist. Before a body is placed into a coffin it needs to have certain items attached to it. The coffins usually arrive bare from the manufacturer. They are not lined nor do they have any handles, blank name plates or have any other ornaments attached so we have to attach them as required. We attach the handles that have already been chosen and they are usually made of plastic. These handles do not need to be removed if the body is to be cremated. Metal handles do need to be removed. The next stage it to engrave the name plate. These come in different designs but are also usually chrome plated plastic. The plate is placed into a machine and is held by a vice mechanism. We then get individual brass letters and lay them out to spell the person's name in a second vice. Everything has the be centred. Using a scribe we trace the letters. A second scribe attached to the same arm as the first scribe (it's hard to explain) engraves the name onto the plate. You have to be careful not to slip otherwise the slip will appear as a scratch on the name plate. It's a bit like an etch-a-sketch. I was very pleased with my first effort and so were my colleagues. The plate is centred on the coffin and nailed into place on the coffin lid.
 
Diamond plate is tacked onto the corners of the lid where the shoulders are and escutcheons placed where the thumb screws go. We then drill the holes for the screws.

The body can now be lifted into the coffin using a winch combined with straps. Before this happens a pillow needs to be made at one end using shredded paper and the entire coffin is to be lined with plastic sheeting. This a requirement by law (the plastic not the paper). The body can now go in. A silk breast cloth and then placed over the body. It covers everything up to the neckline. The edges are attached to the interior of the coffin along the edge. More linings are then attached around the edge and it ends up looking quite elaborate and frilly. Once all that is done the lid can go on. We screw it down with ornate thumb screws and it is ready for the funeral. If desired, a cross or other religious emblem can also be attached to the lid.

 Then we do it all over again if there is another body ready to go. I helped prepare the body of the young woman who died (mentioned in my last blog). She was so beautiful. It was sad to see someone so young in our mortuary. We only did a small amount of work to her due to the family's wishes.

So this is what I do. When people find out what I am now doing they respond in one of two ways:

1). They respond with intense interest and are very curious as to what I will actually be doing, or

2). They do not know how to respond at all. My auntie was initially one of these people.

I look forward to my newly found future.