Director of funeral and former mortician reveals the 5 things that she would never do after years to deal with the dead (exclusive)

Need to know

• Annie Owen is a funeral director and former mortician

• She speaks with people of what inspired her to share her series of morticians on Tiktok

• Owen says it’s an “honor to learn the stories of the dead”

Annie Owen has morbid work – literally.

When Owen was in high school, she was interested in pursuing a career in the funeral. His father first told him that it was not a job for women, but it did not discourage him.

After studying to obtain her baccalaureate in funeral sciences, she took a job as an apprentice in her hometown, later becoming a procession and a funeral director.

“It was difficult because many cases where the families I worked with, I knew it is such a small town,” she said exclusively to people. “You don’t know what to expect when you receive a call. I focused on the idea of ​​helping families and people, but you have to be ready to see a lot of things you are not ready to see.”

“One night, the father of my best friend had a heart attack in front of me, and he died,” she continues. “I was on appeal, and it was one of the first times I did how difficult this work was, but it turned out to be a good lesson for me. I was happy that I could be there for my best friend, and I was able to walk in this trip with her.”

Being there for others in their need time is satisfactory, but can also be emotionally exhausting. Owen shares that you “learn very quickly to delete your emotions so that you can take care of others”.

“This is not us, it is their feelings,” shares Owen. “Whatever we can do so that the family makes things easier for them. But, over time, it must be a lot for me. The more I aged as director of the funeral, I have the impression of bringing him home much more than I did at the beginning.”

While working at the funeral, Owen “prepared for solemn moments”, and there are certainly “a lot”. However, she is always surprised by the “joy that there is to celebrate someone’s life”.

“I had so many families over the years that have wonderful stories. I hear the stories of the person’s life. I have so many funny stories that people told me,” said Owen. “When families come together, they are able to do so in a way that is not as depressing as you think.”

Owen hopes to suppress certain false ideas on those who work in the death industry, including the conviction that they are “shaded” and “unhappy”.

“There are bad apples. But most of us have such integrity. We strive to have integrity into this business,” she shares. “There is a false idea that if a director does something illegal, we all do it behind the scenes.”

“The majority of funeral directors strive to follow the law, and morally, you want to put your head at night and know that you have done a good job for the family and respectfully for the deceased,” she adds.

Owen shares that the HBO show Six feet under is the “most realistic behind -the -scenes show you will never see”. She says the film My daughter, For the most part, also represents funeral directors “in a good day”.

Some of these false ideas, as well as her desire to share stories about the people she met, inspired her to start her series, “5 things that I will not do because I was a mortician”, on Tiktok.

Owen shares lists of things she refuses to do because of what she has seen – such as swimming in the lakes, joy at the back of the van, taking the drugs of others, driving unprotected motorcycles and the cut of people in traffic.

“I think we can learn a lot from the dead, that they have a story to tell, if [or not] It’s a edifying story, “she said.” This is when I started my tiktok, I thought: “What are the stories I can tell?” When I started the series, these are real events that occurred, that I saw, and I saw the devastation. “”

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Owen shares other stories, including personal accounts of deceased people, to remember and raise awareness of their death.

“When I tell the stories, I sit down and I think of the families I have met over the years. Many families I have met. I had a close relationship with a lot of people when I worked with families,” she shares.

“This process allowed me to sit down and pass all the memories I have had, and many of them are comforting and wonderful because I have met so many wonderful families, and that is what makes us move forward.”

Although the subject of death can be uncomfortable for many, Owen encourages people to find beauty by honoring those who preceded us.

“People who do not think they are doing this work lacks such a beautiful part of life, even if it is death. Celebrating someone’s life is a really wonderful experience, and it is an honor to be there alongside the family,” shares Owen. “It is an honor all these years to know these families and learn the stories of the dead, people we have buried.”

Read the original article on people