Faith, Folklore, and Friends

From earliest recorded history, every society has had their rituals for burying the dead. From anointing the body with oils and herbs to mummifying it, these rituals were meant to honor and sometimes preserve the departed, and to provide a venue where the living could remember and show respect to the departed. Back in the day in West Tennessee, comfortable air-conditioned funeral parlors were for the genteel town folk. People in the country took care of their own, washing and preparing the body, then laying the deceased out for the wake. Somewhere in the fifties, laws were enacted that required embalming the dead. After that, the body would be taken to town for the embalming and dressing process, then returned home to lie in state in the same living room where they had played and rested and taken care of business. Friends and family would arrive early with fried chicken and apple pies and bowls of vegetables. They would ask if there was anything they could do, but there usually wasn...