David Barrington is an independent funeral director in Liverpool. We swap emails from time to time, and I asked him if he’d like to be my guest on this blog. I’m very pleased that he has accepted the invitation. And I very much hope that we shall hear from him again.
Over to you, David.
Hello, I am a funeral director and the owner of a very small independent funeral business in Liverpool, Charles invited me to contribute to his blog with some insight from our side of funeral service. I haven’t done this before so bear with me and here goes.
“I don’t know how you do this job?”
That is the one thing that families say to me more than anything else. When I began thinking about writing this piece the thing that I kept thinking about was “So how do I do it?” Well, here are a few of the reasons why anyone in the funeral business does it.
First of all it’s incredibly uplifting to help a family to celebrate the life of a loved one in the way they want to that is meaningful to them. Whatever way they want to do it, religious service, humanist celebration or no service at all.
Another reason is the appreciation that I am shown when I do a good job, from a warm handshake to big tearful hugs. It makes me feel humble every time.
The last one is IT’S A PRIVILEGE. Every time a family invites me into their lives to help them, it’s only for a short time but it is also one of the most difficult times they have and they have put their trust in me to get it right, that’s a big responsibility and one I take very seriously.
Most of the people I know who work in the business feel like me, however sometimes you come across people who for one reason or another have become complacent and it is just a job. If you feel your funeral company isn’t that bothered then I strongly urge you not to accept it and to go somewhere else.
I hope I haven’t rambled on too much and I’d be interested in any comments you have.
Thanks for reading and take care,
David.
