When Embalming Isn’t Possible: Trauma, Illness, Surprises
Editor's note: We writers don't claim to know exactly how you do what you do, but we're voraciously curious! Email us with your own embalming challenges so we...
Herodotus, Harvard, and a History of Human Hides
Ok, let’s be clear: nobody’s out here skinning people to turn into purses or stilettos or footballs for the sake of a death care blog post. We didn’t...
Philosophy vs Religion: Something to Believe
Nowadays, our memorial services and life celebrations are typically based on a framework of morality or belief. It’s by no means standard: while many such services may be...
Cold Water’s Effects on Decomposition, Part 2: Victims of the Titanic (Seawater) vs. The Edmund Fitzgerald (Freshwater)
A recent Connecting Directors article discussed how Lake Superior’s victims rarely emerge from her frigid depths. The freshwater Great Lake is notorious for “disappearing” her dead: in the...
Here’s Why Superior (It’s Said) Never Gives Up Her Dead
Lake Superior – the largest of the Great Lakes – is notorious for its reputation as a “watery graveyard” from which corpses are rarely recovered. Its fearsome profile...
How Doctors Treat Complex Grief, Part 2: Medication
In our previous article, we discussed information which might be useful to have available to provide to families and prospective clients on some of the common forms grief...
Death Care Pros: Does Your Expertise Work Against You?
Mastering a trade is useful on a lot of levels. With long experience comes close familiarity: with one’s field, with the tools of the trade, with oneself. An...
Compassion Fatigue and Death Care Writers: Is This a Thing?
Funeral directors, embalmers and other professionals whose jobs involve the processing of human remains confront a unique form of stress, one intrinsic to the nature of the work....
How Do Doctors Treat Complicated Grief? Part 1: Talk Therapy
Traumatic losses such as the sudden death – or sometimes even expected death – of a beloved family member can leave clients reeling. It’s often the case that...
Do Cemeteries Get Shut Down? Yep, and Here’s What Happens Next
What happens when a cemetery is closed, or is simply abandoned? Short answer: This is a complex legal question and the answer depends on the state and situation...