It was a Sunday . . . the Sunday before a Monday holiday . . . so for many in the country, it was a long weekend filled with family and friends and fun and such.  For us, it was a work day.  A family arrived that morning, prepared to spend a few hours with one of our funeral directors, planning a service for someone they had loved and lost and wanted to honor.  They came with her clothes and their pictures for the video and the details of her life swirling in their heads, soon to be written down as they sat and shared their stories.

The only person they saw that morning was the funeral director.  They didn’t see the secretary who was on call, the one sitting in the office, waiting for the personal information sheets so she could begin entering the information into the computer which would then allow her to print the register book and the memorial folders for the visitation.  They didn’t see her log in to the website and update it with funeral arrangements and the obituary she had written.  They didn’t see the members of the grave crew who would arrive later to open the grave since the funeral was scheduled for the next day.  Nor did they see the housekeeper who was making certain the bathrooms were clean and well-stocked with soap and toilet paper and paper towels, and the lounge was ready for their use . . . or the staff member who made the trip out of town to bring their loved one home . . . or the embalmer who spent hours working to erase the visible effects of the illness that took her life.

On any given day, you will find all the folks mentioned above, and many more, working tirelessly to serve the families who have called on us in their grief.  It isn’t an easy job.  None of it.  Not the secretarial work or the cemetery work or the housekeeping . . . and certainly not the tasks assigned to the funeral staff.  For us, they answer the phones every evening from the hours of 5:00 PM to 8:00 AM and all day on Sunday. They get up in the middle of the night, put their work clothes back on, and go to the hospital or the nursing home or to someone’s house because a death has occurred and a family has asked that we be called.  And then they return at 8:00 the next morning, ready to face whatever the day may bring.

Our charge, as a collective group, is to take the stories the families bring to us and gently hold them; to preserve them and, as much as we are able, to share them with the world.  In the overall scheme of life, this is our solemn duty—to honor the dead by memorializing their life while walking with the living as they navigate those first few days of loss.

Why am I using this forum to write about the dedication and compassion of our employees . . . of all true funeral service professionals?  Because Thursday, March 11 ^th  is National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day.  For the last several years, I’ve posted the picture you see with this blog and thanked everyone for everything they do.  I want them to know how important each and every one of them is to our work . . . whether they clean the building or process the paperwork, whether they work directly or indirectly with the families to carry out their wishes.  It takes a special person to choose this life—and I want everyone to know, we have some of the best around.  So to the secretaries and the accounting folks . . . to the maintenance men and the housekeepers . . . to the grave servicing personnel and the funeral staff . . . for the long hours and the heavy days, for your dedication and compassion and service . . .

Thank you.

About the author:  Lisa Shackelford Thomas is a fourth generation member of a family that’s been in funeral service since 1926.  She has been employed at Shackelford Funeral Directors in Savannah, Tennessee for over 40 years and currently serves as the manager there.  Any opinions expressed here are hers and hers alone, and may or may not reflect the opinions of other Shackelford family members or staff.

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