A Friday Night with the Grim Reaper Squad

femmeflashpoint

Movies, shows and written stories often portray funeral service folks wearing dreary suits, forever downcast, grim, nearly lifeless, sober and always serious.

I've got news for you ... most of us are seldom like that for any longer than we need to be.  At least, I can attest to that in regards to the majority of colleagues in the funeral service industry that I know fairly well.  I can definitely confirm it for the ones I know very well.

Gerald Dawson and David Drake
Funeral Service Associates and Friends :)

That's NOT to say that everyone I've ever met or worked with in the industry has a buoyant, lighthearted, or even a good personality.  I've unfortunately met several who's personality could make a badger cringe, but thankfully, they're the minority in the business, and I hope it stays that way.  Some folks have no business in this business, to be blunt.

Don't worry.  If you need to know who's in the creepy-crowd and who's in the cool crowd ... send me an email, lol. I have a policy to only hang out with the cool crowd.  (Grin!)   That is not intended to imply that my crowd is the only cool crowd in the industry, but I promise ... we rank right up there towards the top with the coolest of them.

There are huge misconceptions about funeral directors, embalmers and morticians (FYI - morticians are people who are both funeral directs and embalmers), in the television, film and literary fields.  And, if nothing else, it provides those of us in the know with peals of laughter when we come across discrepancies while we're watching television, or a movie, or reading it in a story.  I've seen so many it'd take hours to type them out so, I'll refrain.

Reggie and Felicia Murray
(Reggie is a mortician  and
Mrs. Reggie is a sign language interpreter.)

My point with this is, we get some surprised looks at times when several of us are out together and the folks situated around find out either by overhearing our conversation, or because we shout it out and tell everyone (that seldom happens, I promise) that we're funeral service folks.  I believe it surprises people because most often, our group is the group that's smiling the biggest and laughing the loudest and sincerely enjoying each others company.

If you happen to be out and cross paths with us, please step up and introduce yourself!  We're a friendly bunch and there's always room for another chair at the table, or by our booth, and we'll do our level best to not creep you out. (Muahahahahahaha!!!!!)  Feeling sad and blue is not allowed when we're out together so, if you're having a hard time finding your smile, we'll be happy to share ours with you. We always have plenty to go around.

Stacie and Kit
Funeral Service Associates and Friends
(Sorry for the blur - they wouldn't sit still ... )

Tonight while we were out we had the privilege of running into two members of the North Texas Patriot Guard, (who are the DFW and surrounding areas' division of the Texas Patriot Guard) who had a table adjacent to us.  One of us introduced the rest of us, as a group, and the two NTPG members were kind enough to let me take their photo to include here.  If you'd like to see photos of the wonderful work they do, they have them available on their website.  If  you decide to browse through them, I'd advise snagging a box of tissue first.  The work they do and the services they're involved in are often very emotional. 

The Texas Patriot Guard is at funerals nearly as often as funeral service folks are, so, if you happen to come across one of them in passing, a "thank you for what you do" would be much appreciated.  They're volunteers, and show up in all sorts of weather to honor deceased veterans and their loved ones. 

Two members of the North Texas Patriot Guard
They were at The Smoke Pit for dinner after
working a funeral service earlier in the day.

Before I close, I'm happy to announce ( and my thanks to Seth Hall of the Muscle Next Door) that today I was privileged to be retained for my first paid free-lance editing job, and I'm huge-whopping THRILLED about it!  I'll give you more on that later.  I haven't had a chance to review the copy yet.  It's a short book and won't take long but .... woohooo!!!  I'm so excited to get to do it! Feel the glow coming off my grin yet?  If not, just give it a few moments, it'll get to you ...

The gang and I had loads of fun together this evening.  That's right ... the morticians' table was THE table to be hanging at!  And, to add to the comedy, I couldn't resist taking a pic of a guy's underpants who was sitting on a stool near us.  The reason for the pic is those near the area he was sitting were curious as to why he was wearing two pairs of jeans.  It's cool here in the DFW area tonight, but certainly not cold.  Upon close inspection, we realized he wasn't wearing two pairs of jeans.  He was wearing boxers that simply looked like jeans. 

Texas fashion at it's finest!

I thought I'd post the pic because I think he should be lauded for being creative when his pants are riding too low.

Please don't get offended or excited ... they're only underpants.  In fact, I liked them so much, I may have to go out and get some for myself.

My apologies to D.J. Davis and A. Torres for not getting a shot of you during the gathering.  I know, I know ... I wasn't quite on the ball but I promise to do better next time.

That's it for this post and hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks much for the read, God bless and see you next time!

femme