Death Does That Sometimes

“Wait, is this the right body?” The funeral director nervously asked as he was discussing the upcoming schedule with the embalmer.

“I think so?” He shakily responded.

“There was one for today, and one for tomorrow. This should be the one for tomorrow, right?”

The funeral director looked at his schedule and looked at the woman laying on the metal table. He slowly shook his head in agreement.

“Did you speak with the family earlier? Was there a problem?”

The funeral director looked up towards the ceiling, puzzled, and responded “Yes, they didn’t have any problems with the body.”

“Well, that’s comforting! Don’t scare me like that! I have enough creepy encounters in here, I don’t need any extra worries from you!”

The wake in the chapel upstairs had been going on for a few hours already. The funeral director didn’t recall anyone making any comments about how different their mom looked, or asking any questions about whether the right body was in their casket.

“I must be overthinking, sorry for the confusion.”

“No problem, I’m here when you’re ready to prep this body for tomorrow. I just need her clothes, and I’ll do the makeup after.”

The funeral director decided to go back upstairs toward the chapel and take a quick lap around the chapel where the wake was being held. He wanted to listen for any concerns about the body.

“Sylvia was such a kind woman. She had the best smile.”

“Three years since her husband died, I hope she is finally resting peacefully.”

“I’m sure her family is relieved. It wasn’t the best situation for her to live alone the last few years, especially after that nasty fall in the kitchen, what a nightmare!”

“I wonder why they put her glasses on, it’s not like she needs them anymore, right?”

The funeral director didn’t hear anything about the body itself, so he assumed it must be the right woman in the casket and let his mind begin to ease. Before he left, he decided to take one more glance at the woman in the casket.

He looked down into the soft, white, pillowy interior of the casket, surrounded by beautiful purple, yellow and pink floral arrangements. Her face was soft, with light pink blush and a nude lip shade. She was wearing pearl stud earrings that popped out of her long dark hair that surrounded her face. Her large, square, tortoise shell glasses framed her closed eyes and she was wearing a diamond pendant that was given to her by her daughter. Her children had chosen one of her favorite purple dresses with yellow flowers to be buried in, which explained the colors of the floral arrangements.

However, as he continued to scan the body, he noticed that the hands were laid upon her stomach opposite to what the family had discussed.

The funeral director had learned during preparations that a year ago their mother had fallen in the kitchen and landed on her left hand, with her pinky finger completely shattered. The break had become badly infected while healing. So bad that her doctors agreed, it had to be amputated.

Traditionally, when a body is placed into a casket the left hand is laid on top of the right to showcase the deceased’s engagement and wedding rings.

However, the family requested that the right hand be laid on top to hide the amputated finger.

The funeral director's eyes began to widen as he noticed that this woman’s left hand was on display, with her wedding rings, and she had all five fingers.

He took a moment to compose himself, realizing that this was, in fact, the wrong body. After a few slow breaths he looked up at the family standing next to the casket and caught the daughters attention.

“How is everything, can I get you anything?”

“No, we’re doing well. This is such a beautiful tribute to our mother, thank you again.”

The funeral director smiled at her and slowly walked away.

The moment he turned the corner out of the chapel, he ran to the staircase and darted down the stairs and bolted to the embalming room.

The embalmer was about to place the other body into the refrigerated morgue when the funeral director busted through the doors.

“Let me see her left hand!”

The embalmer removed the canvas covering the woman and held up her left hand, displaying only four fingers.

“The fifth finger is missing!”

“Well it wasn’t my fault! She came this way!”

“Yes, I’m aware, and she should be upstairs right now! I can’t believe the family hasn’t noticed!”

“Wait… they didn’t notice?” The embalmer looked at the funeral director in shock, and then let out a sigh of relief before high-fiving the four fingered hand he was holding.

“Thank god! What do we do?”

“I’m not going to say anything just now, it truly seems like no one has noticed.” The funeral director began to pace around the embalming room trying to sort out a plan.

“Okay, tonight, right after the funeral ends, we’ll switch the bodies and make sure the correct body is in the casket for the burial tomorrow.”

“Oh my god, could you imagine if we buried the wrong body! Sheesh! Good catch on this one.”

“Yes. A good catch, indeed. And then when the bodies are set tomorrow, we’ll discuss how we got into this situation to begin with. . . ”

The embalmer gulped loud enough that it almost echoed around the room.

The funeral director slowly walked out of the embalming room and headed back upstairs. He was wary, but he was determined to ensure the family stayed oblivious to the mix up.

He leisurely strolled along the walls of the chapel, pretending to be checking up on the family members, the room in general, and the details of the service. From the prayer cards, to the floral arrangements, he fixed everything multiple times for the next hour and a half, only leaving the room for short periods to avoid suspicion.

Once 6:00 PM came around, the event started to dwindle, and the noise from the crowds began to fade. No one had noticed that the woman in the casket wasn’t supposed to be there.

Only a few close family members remained for another twenty minutes or so, discussing the process for the burial tomorrow. One by one, they all approached the casket one last time to say their goodbyes, and then they all made their way into the lobby.

The funeral director breathed a massive sigh of relief as he watched the last person leave the chapel and he was able to shut the door for the evening.

As the family was making their way out of the lobby, the daughter came up to the funeral director and thanked him again for a wonderful service and that she appreciated the love and respect her mother was shown during this emotional time.

The funeral director was silent, but cracked a small smile. He nodded his head in gratitude for her praise, trying to hold back sweat from his quivering eyebrows.

The daughter turned around and made her way out the front door and he locked the front door behind her.

He slowly walked away from the front windows of the building and made his way towards the back staircase once more.

He darted down those same stairs and charged straight towards the embalming room where the embalmer was prepared with the correct body.

Together, they transferred her onto the gurney and brought her over to the commercial elevator.

They swung open the creaking steel door and slid the gurney into the tight opening. Behind them, they shut the elevator door and hit “Up.” As the elevator began to rise the embalmer quietly let out a giggle.

“I can’t believe this happened! I have no idea how they got so mixed up.”

The funeral director just stood in silence, waiting to hear more from the embalmer.

“They both have pale skin, long brown ashy hair. I didn’t even think to look at the fingers. No one told me anything about those!”

The funeral director let out a sarcastic “hmph” noise and said, “Well, we’ll have to be much more observant from now on. We got lucky this time.”

The embalmer was trying to fill the silence of the elevator ride, by tapping the metal elevator wall until it finally arrived at the first floor. The door slowly opened automatically, and they pushed the gurney out into the hallway.

The funeral director quickly took a lap around the chapel, the lobby and the lounge to ensure no one was still in the building. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, the embalmer pushed the gurney into the chapel.

The funeral director turned on all of the lights and they lifted each body from the table and the casket onto the floor next to one another. The makeup needed to be identical, the hair needed to be identical, the jewelry needed to be moved, and the clothes had to be switched.

After looking at both women’s bodies next to one another, the funeral director agreed that their qualities were similar.

“They looked as if they could have been close cousins.” He said shyly and the embalmer began to delicately work on their features on the chapel floor.

“I’m just thankful that this family was able to mourn today.”

Death does that sometimes.

While embalmers work diligently to make each deceased person look as close to how they physically looked in life, it will never be perfect.

We each still have our own images of our loved ones in our minds. Our own memories. We hold tight onto those memories and they help dictate how we believe our loved one looked, smelled, and felt.

We provide pictures to help capture the essence of the deceased. We provide clothes, accessories, and jewelry to help complete their physical puzzle. We focus on those expected aspects because it is all we really can expect in moments of loss.

What we are given is a half-image. An effective visual, with no soul.

Who are we to question what is in front of us?

Our minds are powerful. Our memories are firm. Our visions are our truth.

And a casket is a new reality, a new fact. So much so that one might not notice a missing appendage.

It goes to prove that a lifeless body will never replace a life-filled one.

And for that, we should be thankful. □