Besides the BEAUTIFUL weather we had this weekend which Gordon and I took advantage of by going on a hike with Jodi and Simon, then taking the “little” ones on a walk (there is no way they could go on a hike) on a river walkway by our home, we witnessed an event that only a few people get to witness...
Our good friends the Purser’s live in a mortuary. To make their time on-call better they had a few couples over for pizza and sport watching. During our hangout Marc got a pick up call (in order to live there for FREE they pick up dead bodies during non-business hours for the mortuary). This has happened before when we were there so we didn’t think anything of it. When he returned it was with anticipation. He asked us if we wanted to watch an embalming of the dead body he picked up. We were hesitant at first, but then Gordon and I spoke up and said “SURE!” Morbid a bit, but it was so interesting! I thought I might not be able to watch, being a bit squeamish at times, but it was too interesting not to. The mortician walked us through each step. When we arrived in the embalming room, the body was already ‘set’, meaning he had rearranged the body’s features with arms crossed and face in place because the embalming process makes the person stiff and not maneuverable. The body would have been naked, but he covered it up in the spots that needed covering (thank goodness…I did not want to see a 90+ year old person naked! I’ll wait until that time comes for me and see it then). To begin the embalming process, the mortician has to find the jugular vein and drain all the blood out of the body while replacing it with formaldehyde. It was amazing to see the body go from color, to no color, and back to color again (the formaldehyde puts a bit of color into the body for that ‘alive’ look). That’s the part I got a bit woozy. Seeing all of the blood drain from a body is crazy! It’s just like the movies where you see the gallons of blood oozing out of someone…CRIMSON RED! After the formaldehyde process is over the mortician stitches the body up with what they like to call a “hidden stitch.” That was the most amazing part because you could not see where he had made an incision. He pulled the two sides of the stitch string and POOF the hole was gone and you can’t even tell where the cut was made. One of the girls there made a comment to the mortician asking him to teach her that trick so she could use it while quilting…we had to make light of the creepy situation we put ourselves in.
This weekend was unforgettable. I will NEVER forget what we witnessed at the Purser’s. It couldn’t have happened at a better time of year.
2 comments:
That is so creepy! Honestly, I never would have pictured you wanting to watch something like that. Yeah, my first experience with death was at manor care. I had worked there 3 days and when I came on to shift one of them was passing away and I walked in and......yeah, couldn't stop crying. They had to send me home. As peaceful as death is, it sure isn't pretty to look at. Hats off for you getting up the guts (hee-hee) to go see that. Way cool.
I cant believe you said YES! Oh my gosh. Super creepy. I totally would have said no. and I really miss you, when i come to utah in like feb march, we should do lunch!
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