Renegade Rip

Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Features

Media Credit: Jacqueline White Instruments of the trade: scissors, vein expanders, scapel,needle injector,aneurysm needle, and forceps are just some of the instruments used in the art of embalming

As I walk through the hospital hallway, I get numerous stares. People distraught and even disgusted at the sight of me walking through. It's almost as if the grim reaper himself was here. Everyone is scared and fearful of witnessing what I am here to do.

I stroll on by numerous rooms until I come to my destination, usually the Intensive Care Unit. I usually don't have to present myself to the nursing staff; it is pretty obvious what I am here to do. With a gurney at the tip of my hands, a pair of gloves in my pocket and, lastly, a face sheet, I go to work. I prepare all of the necessary equipment to safely remove a corpse from their deathbed.

After loading up the corpse into my removal van, I transport the body straight to the mortuary. Upon arrival I get the body into the prep room and apply moisturizing cream on their facial features to avoid any dehydration. And finally, put the corpse into the refrigeration unit and call it a day.

Members of our society have placed their trust in me to fulfill the responsibility of disposition of the dead. I deal with death willingly on a daily basis whereas others avoid it. My job helps people obtain closure. I give families the opportunity to say their last goodbyes.

I chose this profession because it has always been my childhood dream. As a child, I spent a lot of my time with my father and I would accompany him to funerals whenever he went. I enjoyed viewings and burials, and from then on I knew that I wanted to become a mortician.

As a teenager, I never forgot my interest in mortuary science and, as an adult I self-researched the profession.

After attending Bakersfield College for two years, I pursued a career in the funeral profession. I obtained a volunteer job at a local mortuary and an internship at the coroner's office. I wanted to make sure that I could handle performing the duties a mortician did, and I ended up loving it. My family was not supportive, but I applied for acceptance into mortuary school anyway. I started in the fall of 2002 at Cypress College and planned to complete the program in one year, which totalled to 50 units.

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