1. As of today, there are only 13 more Fridays until Christmas. Too early to use the “C-word?” Don’t care. Here at FFFW; we love that season.
2. On this day in 1973, Jimmy Carter filed a UFO report.
3. It’s the U.S. Air Force’s birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
4. This is day 262 of the longest year ever…
5. Aaannnd today is awesome because you’re here and I’m here and you’re about to read the profession’s most wrapping newsletter.

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HERE’S SOME MONKEY BUSINESS

Poul Lemasters is a well known name in the death-care space. Now, on top of being a sought after legal professional, he’s also a bartender. Kind of. See, at the beginning of quarantine (many moons ago) he began posting videos to Facebook featuring a variety of cocktails for people to enjoy during the changing times. Let me tell you – these vids are great. Hosted live from the “Blue Monkey Quarantina,” regardless of how much you know/care about alcohol, Poul makes these a real treat full of great jokes, stories, and history.
Now these videos are getting uploaded to Youtube for everyone to see. Check it out here.

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ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR HOMESTEADERS

When you tell people that you work in the death-care space most of the time they feel bad for you. “That must be sad.” “Why?”… the list goes on and on. For the most part, people aren’t very secure in their mortality, so anything associated with death makes them uncomfortable.

That being said, Homesteaders was just named a top workplace in Iowa for the 6th year in a row! That’s amazing!

Now, obviously Homesteaders isn’t a funeral home, but as a funeral vendor, providing a great atmosphere for their employees does so much good for the whole profession! Cheers to them!

SIDE NOTE – I’m not a funeral director and I don’t work inside of a funeral home either. But, if you want your funeral home to be a “Top Place to Work,” I have a few ideas…

1. Ball Pits – Here’s the deal, we all loved them as kids until we realized how gross they were. Good news is we’re all wearing masks and washing our hands 24/7. There’s never been a better time to bring back the pit for you, your families, and your employees.
2. A Ticket System – Maybe you set up some fun activities around the office. The better people do at the games, the more tickets they get. THEN they can turn in those tickets for fun prizes.
3. A Mouse Mascot – It worked for Disney, right? Nothing is better for morale than a dancing singing mouse mascot. Hey, maybe even get it to give random high fives and serve pizzas!
4. Yeah… this is just Chuck E. Cheese. My bad.

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THE WEIRD SIDE OF ETSY

If you don’t know, Etsy is a website where people sell handmade/vintage items. It’s kinda like a virtual art-fair meets resale shop. But… it has a funeral side to it. Recently a colleague of mine and myself took it upon ourselves to explore this side of the web and bring you back the results.

Here’s what we found

1. Lots of custom urns

• For the handy man
• For the traveler
• For the drinker…

2. Aaannnd this extra “special” urn. Prepare yourself. I can’t explain it.

• YIKES

3. Odd trinkets

• Superman
• Casket bath
• Worlds smallest prep room

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HERE’S A SMILE STARTER

Obituaries, for the most part, aren’t normally where you go for a light hearted laugh. Every once in a while one will pop-out and reflect a beautiful life of someone who didn’t take life too seriously.

I found this story while digging through the Connecting Directors archives and just thought it was the perfect way to start your weekend.

Please enjoy!

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