You never really get used to it you know. The mess. Even under the best of circumstances, death is messy. Life…life is messier, though. Death is just an instant. A singular moment at which one thing slips away and another slips in. A sublime transformation from energy into matter.

And it’s that energy that gets us into trouble.

And me? I remove the remnants of the old. Restoring the blank page. I am the proverbial wiper of the slate. I am a calm, cleansing kindness that allows those who remain behind to begin the healing. But, most importantly, I am the final witness to the life that has passed on.

While my job can certainly at times require me to remain highly impersonal, there remains a certain degree of intimacy. And, of course, intimacy, at times, can be shockingly funny.