So, I think I have mentioned before (or not) that every now and then a family asks about a deceased person's gold teeth, wanting to have them removed before they are cremated, because they think the gold in them might be of value. We (the funeral home staff) are not in the business of ripping out teeth however, and we tell those families that they would need to find a dentist to come in and take teeth out for them, and at that point the family shuts up about it and the teeth and their gold are cremated. Well, this week we had a family that asked for something else: the deceased's fingernails. Now, none of us had the guts to ask why the hell they wanted fingernail clippings, so we went to the refrigerator and got them and gave them to the family.
What was that about? Any ideas?
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Mementos
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4 comments:
Voodoo!!!
Wait. Why do you have the deceased fingernails in the fridge? Why do you remove them in the first place?
Or did you get the body from the fridge and yank of the fingernails?
I have no idea why they would want them. Unless they were fake nails and someone wanted to wear them.
Maybe they wanted DNA for some particular reason, or just to have. There was a story on This American Life about a guy who did a paternity test after his father died, and I think they got DNA from an envelope. Might be useful to have, although I think I would go with a lock of hair instead.
Very strange. I must admit that the first thing that came to mind was some sort of Voodoo ritual, maybe a parting blessing of some sort. But I am ill informed on the subject so I am just making it up as I go along.
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