Confessions of a Funeral Director: How Death Saved My Life
by Wilde, Caleb
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About
We are a people who deeply fear death. While humans are biologically wired to evade death for as long as possible, we have become too adept at hiding from it, vilifying it, and - when it can be avoided no longer - letting the professionals take over.
Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were . . . dead? Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference - in other people’s lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own. A spirituality of death began to emerge as he observed:
• The family who lovingly dressed their deceased father for his burial
• The act of embalming a little girl that offered a gift back to her grieving family
• The nursing home that honored a woman’s life by standing in procession as her body was taken away
• The funeral that united a conflicted community
Through stories like these, told with equal parts humor and poignancy, Wilde offers an intimate look into the business and a new perspective on living and dying.
Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were . . . dead? Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference - in other people’s lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own. A spirituality of death began to emerge as he observed:
• The family who lovingly dressed their deceased father for his burial
• The act of embalming a little girl that offered a gift back to her grieving family
• The nursing home that honored a woman’s life by standing in procession as her body was taken away
• The funeral that united a conflicted community
Through stories like these, told with equal parts humor and poignancy, Wilde offers an intimate look into the business and a new perspective on living and dying.