Sublime

desquamation,

I became “functionally morbid,” consumed with death, disease, and darkness yet capable of passing as a quasi-normal schoolgirl.

is a not-so-well-kept funeral industry secret that the processes used to make someone appear natural are often highly unnatural.

Eventually the morgue exhibitions became too popular with the citizens of Paris, and they were shut down to the public.

in trade magazines like The Shroud, The Western Undertaker, and The Sunnyside.

The American undertaker had done something similar: by making themselves “medical” they became legitimate.

Death should be known. Known as a difficult mental, physical, and emotional process, respected and feared for what it is.

The hospital was a place where the dying could undergo the indignities of death without offending the sensibilities of the living. In my high school, my classmates

At Westwind, for what felt like the first time, I was seeing, smelling, feeling, experiencing. This type of encounter was an engagement with reality that was precious, and quickly becoming addictive.