The lack of body heat is just the beginning....

7 is the number of dead bodies I have seen

3 is the number of them that I knew personally.

2 is the number of times I have done hair on a person after they have died.

0 is the number of times it has freaked me out.

I have a very good client who just so happens to own a few funeral homes in the area.

Doing hair on the recently deceased is not something I have always wanted to do. But I have a problem saying no to people I like, and I really like this client.... So I said yes.

Weird, right?

No, not at all!

Martha was the first.

She was an older lady with short hair.

She was wearing a pink robe and her nails had just been painted.

Other than that, I know nothing about this woman.

When I arrived at the funeral home I was full of nerves and was sweating under my many layers of winter wear. As I sat in the office waiting for my instructions I forced myself to calm down and realized that I had to at least get through this one, and if it was that bad, I never had to come back.

At that moment the funeral director told me that they had 2 bodies in the back room and one was in the embalming process, while the lady I needed to prepare was in there as well. I quickly said that I did NOT want to be working in that room. "No problem" he said and he wheeled Martha into another room.

Because I was new at this sort of thing a man stayed in the room with me to make sure I didn't wig out or anything... And to be honest, before I walked into that room, I thought I might wig out myself.

But I didn't.

It was like I had been around dead people my whole life. I didn't even think twice before plugging in my curling iron and getting to work.

She looked dead, and felt cold. I had forgotten about the lack of body heat after death. I got past it and moved on. After that, it was easy and sort of fun.

I was proud of what I had just done and I wanted to do more.

Lucky me, I got a call just a few hours later asking if I could come back in a few days.

I am not sure what the last lady's name was, and that makes me sad.

I do know that she was 76 and her grandson was handling most of her arrangements.

There wasn't anyone in the room with me this time, and I was in the back, alone.

Once again I found myself completely comfortable.

At this point the fact that I am NOT freaked out is freaking me out more than the dead bodies are!

There is an odd part of this job that I am starting to enjoy, and its not just the money.

I have been sick for the past few days and I have had lots of time to lay in bed and think. This subject has been on my mind quite a bit.

When the funeral director gave me the picture of how the family wanted the last woman's hair to look he made a joke and said, "You can keep this for your file". That has been in my head for the past few days! I feel like I do need to keep a "file" of sorts, or at least write something about my experience with these people.

You see, I am the last person to touch them before they are put in the casket. Their makeup has been done, body prepared and they have been fully dressed.

I want to be able to say something about my experience. Maybe this is the place, maybe not. I guess Ill have to figure that out along the way, but for now this will do.