Among Friends

I was among friends last night. I knew several of the folks in the audience personally but most are my friends because we are all in the same profession. I was the banquet speaker at the Mississippi Funeral Directors Association annual convention in Tunica MS.

And when an undertaker gets to stand at the podium to entertain a bunch of undertakers, you have the makings of a good time.

You certainly don’t have to be an undertaker to get the drift of my view from a hearse, but these guys really do view life from a hearse every day of their lives. And they have stories of their own. And it’s a little more than a little neat to see a room full of people who deal with grief and heartache on a daily basis get together and laugh. And laugh they did.

As I was sitting at the head table during the festivities of the banquet, the incoming President of their association and I struck up a conversation. I quickly found out that we have something else in common.

Not only are we both undertakers but I was shocked to learn that we both sleep with the same dog.

In case you are getting the wrong impression, the dogs we sleep with are miniature Schnauzers. I’m not sure if any of you out there sleep with a dog but I confess that my wife and I have been doing it for about 3 years. And it was a little comforting to know that the President and the very lovely first lady of the Mississippi Funeral Directors Association sleep with their Schnauzer.

Like I said, I was among friends last night. And it sure was comforting.