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February 02, 2005
I see dead people
My large and extended family contains many 'characters' in the traditional Irish sense of the word. Nearly every trade imaginable is represented by one in-law or another. We're also the kind of extended family that thinks nothing of ringing each other up to carry out the occasional small but important task. This leads to some fun experiences; I've worked in a women's refuge, behind a bar, and as assistant to a property agent and undertaker.
I'm regularly questioned as to what it is undertakers do, and I'm happy to answer those questions, but Six Feet Under tells it better. It does mean I'm more comfortable around dead bodies than I would be otherwise (and only in the very specific, formal environments of wakes and funeral homes).
My cousin popped in one evening to use our computer to update his CV. Before leaving, he left with me a polished wooden box containing the cremated remains of a client of my uncle the undertaker. Cremations are still rare in Ireland, and there are few crematoriums as a result. The cremation had to take place in Dublin, and the remains had to be ferried to their final resting place via the hands of an extremely careful chain of people, linked by virtue of being blood relatives.
There's something about holding a box of somebody else's ashes that focuses the mind. I couldn't leave them in the boot of the car - what if the car was stolen?! The ashes would end up in the Garda impound lot! And wouldn't they be cold?
So they spent the night with me, right under my bed. And when I passed them on to my mother, she insisted they stay indoors too.
I will admit to a solid 15 minutes of wondering if I was going to see a ghost that night.
Posted by Oliver at February 2, 2005 09:12 PM
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