BONUS EPISODE: I Do's, Farewells, and What the Hells?

Uh, well, actually my path to funeral service was kind of strange because, you know, as we were talking about, I was in the military, number one, and I worked on aircraft.

I really have a passion for it.

People often ask me, "Well, why didn't you just stay in?" I'm like, "Eh," you know, I didn't really like being told what to do.

And so, you know, being in the military is kind of the worst places to be if you don't like being told what to do.

And then got out, and I earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and natural science and mathematics.

That's where my love for science comes from, because actually what I wanted to do was become a science teacher.

One of the, uh, first jobs I had though, as we were talking about, is I was a social worker for a residential area for m- mentally handicapped children and adults.

[laughs] And, like, anybody who's worked in, you know, social work or case management or stuff, like, you know it's low pay, grueling hours.

And so I thought to myself, "You know what? I think there's gotta be something easier to do." And so my whole, I'm not gonna say my whole life, but kind of my, like, while I was figuring out what careers I should come up with, you know, people were always like, "You should be a funeral director.

You're good with people.

You like science.

You know, you have a degree in psychology.

You should check it out." And it just, you know, I just literally Googled, uh, funeral schools in Chicago, and it turns out- One of the oldest ones in the United States is right up the road from me, and it's called Worsham College.

So I went there, and then I taught there for seven years, and that kind of launched my, uh, funeral service education thing.

So in a roundabout way, I am a s- I, as a teacher, it's very specific science.

But, um, so that's how I became a funeral director.

And then, you know, uh, during that time before I became an educator, I worked at a really busy funeral home.

We did anyf- anywhere between 500 and 600 calls, so that's slang for, you know, cases or serving families or w- whatever you want to call it.

So we did that between 500 and 600.

And while I like taking out funerals, there's too much paperwork involved with the arrangements, right? And so embalming people was a technical challenge, um, that involved my love of science and, you know, all that other stuff.

Plus, there's really only one piece of paper that you have to fill out, and that's the embalming case report.

And so, so my main duties was I spent embalming, and then when I became a teacher, you know, I mainly, you know, I, uh, I taught embalming lab and restorative art lab and the embalming theory and the restorative art theory courses as well.

So I guess I just fell into it, and I love it, you know?

Yeah.

I like to do it.

Uh, well, actually my path to funeral service was kind of strange because, you know, as we were talking about, I was in the military, number one, and I worked on aircraft.

I really have a passion for it.

People often ask me, "Well, why didn't you just stay in?" I'm like, "Eh," you know, I didn't really like being told what to do.

And so, you know, being in the military is kind of the worst places to be if you don't like being told what to do.

And then got out, and I earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and natural science and mathematics.

That's where my love for science comes from, because actually what I wanted to do was become a science teacher.

One of the, uh, first jobs I had though, as we were talking about, is I was a social worker for a residential area for m- mentally handicapped children and adults.

[laughs] And, like, anybody who's worked in, you know, social work or case management or stuff, like, you know it's low pay, grueling hours.

And so I thought to myself, "You know what? I think there's gotta be something easier to do." And so my whole, I'm not gonna say my whole life, but kind of my, like, while I was figuring out what careers I should come up with, you know, people were always like, "You should be a funeral director.

You're good with people.

You like science.

You know, you have a degree in psychology.

You should check it out." And it just, you know, I just literally Googled, uh, funeral schools in Chicago, and it turns out- One of the oldest ones in the United States is right up the road from me, and it's called Worsham College.

So I went there, and then I taught there for seven years, and that kind of launched my, uh, funeral service education thing.

So in a roundabout way, I am a s- I, as a teacher, it's very specific science.

But, um, so that's how I became a funeral director.

And then, you know, uh, during that time before I became an educator, I worked at a really busy funeral home.

We did anyf- anywhere between 500 and 600 calls, so that's slang for, you know, cases or serving families or w- whatever you want to call it.

So we did that between 500 and 600.

And while I like taking out funerals, there's too much paperwork involved with the arrangements, right? And so embalming people was a technical challenge, um, that involved my love of science and, you know, all that other stuff.

Plus, there's really only one piece of paper that you have to fill out, and that's the embalming case report.

And so, so my main duties was I spent embalming, and then when I became a teacher, you know, I mainly, you know, I, uh, I taught embalming lab and restorative art lab and the embalming theory and the restorative art theory courses as well.

So I guess I just fell into it, and I love it, you know?

Yeah.

I like to do it.