National Funeral Convention 2006

Funeral Convention - Part 1

When thinking about Philly, most people imagine cheese steak, Ben Franklin, or the Italian Market. Having spent a few days there, Philly calls to my mind caskets, hearses, and eco-friendly cremation urns. That’s right, friends: Mama has just returned from the annual National Funeral Directors’ Convention and has she got some stories to tell!

I have an abundance of alternate universe moments I can share, because it is true – funeral directors are a different bunch of people from the rest of America. I personally find a lot of them to be cool or, at the very least, wickedly funny - but that may just be my thing. So I’ll give you a little of the strange funeral world stuff, but more importantly, I will let you in on the latest in funeral, cremation, memorial, and burial innovations. The next six installments of Auspicious Jots will be on UU friendly trends I discovered on the floor of the convention exhibit hall. Auspicious Jots does the leg work and you reap the rewards.

Speaking of funeral directors, I’d like to send out special congratulations to my dear friend Tommy Peters. Tommy was my first love in the funeral biz. He’s one of the best in the profession and is in possession of lengthy instructions should I meet my maker. As of Monday, he is also the proud daddy of Nicholas Gian Peters. Nicholas came in at a little over 7lbs, a little under 20”, and looking all the world like Daddy, they say. This could mean any number of things including: blonde haired and blue eyed, devilish, or drinking a beer. Nicholas brings the Peters family census to four. May they enjoy getting to know each other and, some day, may they sleep again.