Each day is a new one in funeral service

One of the things that I like about what I do is that each day is different. In fact, a day in funeral service can change rapidly- it only takes a death call to change your plans. We often joke in our family to make plans to go out to dinner or a movie, and it guarantees a death call.

Tomorrow will be a different day for me. I am embarking on a project that I have never done before. I was called upon by a group of Catholic nuns who have moved from their monastery that they have called home for 85 years to undertake the relocation of their private cemetery. Tomorrow I will oversee the disinterment of four remains. Three are urns that have been buried for a number of years. Those should not be too big a deal. The more interesting one is a casket that has been buried since 1955. The casket was buried directly in the ground; no vault was used to support the weight of the earth or protect the contents of the casket. Sister Marie died before that practice became commonplace.

Last week we disinterred three of the sisters who had been buried for 10 to 26 years. Those three were removed from the graves and the vaults that contained their caskets and were cremated. Cremation really simplified the process for this particular situation.

I hope to have this project completed within two weeks. When we are finished nine disinterments will have been performed. We will also undertake the interments that will be performed in Oldenburg. The sisters have moved to Oldenburg where they will essentially become obsolete over time. Their order dwindled to about eight individuals, so it became less and less possible to exist as a community on their own.

Yes, every day is different in funeral service. This project is definitely one that provides an opportunity to gain knowledge and wisdom about a topic that funeral directors don't always know a whole lot about- that being, what happens when a person is buried for a period of time? Do vaults work? I do consider this project a special honor to have been called upon to oversee. It is being done well, with honor and much respect.