Continue Reading Below Advertisement

When you die, your family decides what funeral home they want to use, and then we get a call to come pick up the body. Doing a removal at the hospital or a nursing home is generally pretty easy. You show up, make sure all the paperwork is in order, and collect your passenger. Doing a removal at a private residence, however, can be a ... well, a nightmare.

With the exception of patients on hospice, people who die at home usually die suddenly or unexpectedly, so the family is already experiencing a higher-than-normal level of grief, and then I show up to take their loved one away. I am not always a welcomed house guest, which is understandable because, let's face it, I'm basically the Grim Reaper to them.

Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

"Sorry for your loss."

"Oh yeah, then why does funeral home start with f-u-n?"

We are always respectful of the families and give them time to say their goodbyes, but at the same time, we have a schedule to keep and need to get the body back to the funeral home as soon as possible. It becomes a very delicate balancing act between giving the family their space and getting your job done in a timely manner.

Even getting everything ready for the removal can be very upsetting to the family. We always plan out our escape route and rearrange furniture so that we don't trip over a wayward coffee table. Unfortunately, family members tend to want to keep everything in the person's room as they left it, and I'm in there touching their stuff and moving it around, already reminding them that their loved one is no longer around to complain. This is one of the reasons that we usually ask that the family wait in another room or outside until we're done.