Never heard of this before?

[Gerania]

Mom told me that dad's hair was parted on the wrong side. I didn't notice until she mentioned it. He sort of looked pretty good. He had lost a lot weight in the six weeks since I'd last seen him.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by Gerania

Mom told me that dad's hair was parted on the wrong side. I didn't notice until she mentioned it. He sort of looked pretty good. He had lost a lot weight in the six weeks since I'd last seen him.

You know what's odd? I am wondering if people who are with the person to the very end can truly grasp how that person looks to other people - I mean, if they were sick a long time or lost a lot of weight or whatever. The reason I am wondering this is because my sister in law seemed oblivious to the fact that my brother had LOST 100 POUNDS and his suit she brought up to the funeral home simply swallowed him, even though the funeral home did the best they could and pinned it up a lot. I mean, honestly, to me he looked awful but she seemed to think he had just lost "a little" weight. Look, he was tall and wasn't at all fat but he went from 240 to under 140 lbs. She honestly couldn't seem to see that.

[misskatiegirl]

This is correct. The funeral home told me if the family wishes to have open casket then the body has to be embalmed. If no viewing then no embalming is required.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by misskatiegirl

This is correct. The funeral home told me if the family wishes to have open casket then the body has to be embalmed. If no viewing then no embalming is required.

Why if shortly after death or if body iced?

[Tallysmom]

Actually, no embalming is required. In cases where the mortuary doesn’t get immediate access to the body and you want an open casket, they might recommend it, as when they do it, they use chemicals that “refresh” the body to alleviate the decomposition that has occurred.

And apparently a funeral home can require it. Seems weird. I’m would bet older clientele would think it’s natural — we’ve always done it that way.