I believe that I’m now in my 8th month of living in the COVID world.  And, in that world a lot has changed about how I do things.  Even with the change, however, things seem to be slowly returning to normal in my state of Minnesota.  Our students are in school, our high school football team started play last Friday night, and I noticed business, almost as usual, when I was on the campus of the University of Minnesota for meetings last week.

Only a month ago, I was on campus and it seemed like a ghost town.  However, when I drove in last Wednesday night I saw students walking the streets to and from class and many business that are located adjacent to campus were open.  I surmise that the activity change from the last month is because dormitories are now open.

I also understand that there are states that are not as “open” as Minnesota.  Students are not in school, many businesses are not open, and life is pretty “locked down”.  In that type of situation, parents, including funeral directors who must go to work, have to adjust to the situation as it is.

That leads us to our story for this day.  You can read and see a news story here which tells us of Lisa Bradshaw who operates the Grissom Chapel and Mortuary in San Lorenzo, California.  In her state of California, school was not in session and that caused some problems for her.

So now, her sons and employee Lovetta Brown’s daughter have set up class inside the funeral home.  It’s a place where it certainly is quiet and if the students need help, their moms are right there with them.

Bradshaw commented on the set-up in the article, “I am a solo-driven household and my children are first and foremost but equally as important is my staff and the community that I serve.”  So now, she can serve her community while still being a full time mom to her sons.

Funeral Director Daily take:  I’m guessing that when career counselors jot down the traits that it takes to be a good funeral director, “Resourcefulness” is near the top of the list.  Think about it, I’m sure that you have had to be resourceful in many situations during a funeral service career. . . I know that I had to.  It seemed some of the requests we were asked to accomplish needed “a way to make it work”.

So, it doesn’t surprise me that Ms. Bradshaw has found herself both able to serve her community in the depths of the COVID pandemic and also make sure that her children are getting their proper education.  Good funeral directors always seem to “find a way”.