Oh boy... where to start? I apologize it has been a while since my last post. I have neglected the blog for a while as my last semester of school just started and that, of course, takes priority. We have also been moving our stuff over the past three saturdays to our new home, so I have not had a lot of down time to sit and enjoy life, and organize my thoughts into a readable post! So for those of you who don't know, Andy and I have been living in a mortuary for the past year. I know, right? We get a lot of funny looks and reactions when we tell people, most of which are along the lines of, "Why on God's green earth would you actually want to live in a mortuary?!". I realize it's not for everyone, but if you can stand to be stuck home a lot, the deal is pretty sweet. Since a lot of people are curious about the situation, and wonder what it's like to live here I thought I would explain a little bit of what it has been like to have this job over the past year of our lives.
I first heard about this after hours secretary position from a friend whom I worked with at the BYU bookstore. She and her husband were actually living here at the time, and so I asked her to tell me a little bit about the job. She explained that you live in the mortuary, and you have to be home during non-business hours and major holidays to answer the phones. You get calls from all types of people with different questions such as: What time is so and so's service?, When can I deliver flowers?, we had so and so die can you take down the information and dispatch a funeral director to come pick them up?, etc. that you have to answer and take care of. This doesn't sound too bad to me at the time, but Andy and I weren't looking to move so I just kind of filed it away in the back of my mind for later, just in case.
Let me just tell you though, this job is a huge time commitment! You have to be home from 5pm-8am the next morning, Monday through Friday. Then on Saturdays you have from 8am-2pm before you have to be home for the phones, and then you are stuck home all day Sunday until 8am Monday morning. The only way you can be gone during the times you are in charge of the phones is if you have someone phone sit for you. Finding someone was always a huge worry, but I do have to thank my wonderful friends who did so kindly train to answer phones for us. We would not have survived without you! Another down side is that you cannot forward the phones to a cell phone, at least one of us always had to be here on the premises... huge pain in the bum! And oh, your family invited you to dinner or an event, well either get a phone sitter, or too bad you have to just miss out! And if it's a major holiday just forget it, you are stuck home all day long. I still remember last 4th of July, Andy worked, and I spent the evening home alone watching fireworks out of our bathroom window. In fact, I missed out on quite a bit during the past year, I even almost had to miss out on Andy's college graduation, can you believe that?
So by now you are thinking, "Why in the world did they ever apply for, or agree to do this awful job?". Well, the pot is sweetened just enough to entice you to become a serious hermit for an entire year and this is why. Rent is FREE! No utilities, and you get paid a salary every month to live here. However, you do have to commit to an entire year, which sounds easy until you actually live here. Andy and I both love to go out and adventure, we are not really homebodies, so being stuck inside all the time or always having a curfew makes you feel a bit like your are a secretary/phone slave. Funny enough, the building we live in was built in the late 1800's and our apartment is actually the old servant's quarters for the rich man who owned this old world mansion.
Well, the time came that Andy and I were looking at our financial situation, and came to the conclusion that to get through our last year of school without acquiring huge amounts of student loan debt, we needed to make some changes in rent and other expenditures. Now, I don't know how many of you have ever tried to find a two bedroom apartment that allows pets for under $500 in Provo, Utah, but the comparison of such an impossible task would be like finding Bigfoot and then befriending him and talking about the philosophical meaning of life. My point is, it is seriously impossible! We had no idea what we were going to do, and then ding! A little light bulb went off, and I remembered that the mortuary job would possibly be available. Andy and I talked very seriously about the situation, and figured out schedules to make sure it would work. We agreed that this was a job we needed, and so we went for it. We trained to phone sit, and got some experience that way. Then we interviewed, because the job wasn't guaranteed to us, and there were actually several couples who wanted the job. Much to our relief, we got the job, and we were very excited. This situation has truly been a huge blessing for us, as well as a trial.
So last June came, and we moved in. I thought the year would fly by, and in some ways it has, but as I sit here and type this, it also feels like it has been a very long year. It has been difficult to be home all the time, miss important events, and re-arrange schedules a million times to make this job and school and our other jobs work all together. We now have 5 nights left until I get my fur baby back, and we are officially done living here. That has been another hard element to this situation, we were not allowed to have our little dog here, so Andy's parents babysat him for the year. We get him back soon, and I can taste the freedom! I really believe this may be one of the slowest 5-day periods of time in my life!
I suppose you are wondering if it was creepy living here, or wonder if we were haunted. No it wasn't really creepy, our apartment is clear on the top floor (Andy and I commonly refer to it as the prison tower, or purgatory) and it has a separate entrance. Also, we don't deal with the services or bodies at all, so it was never a bother in that regard. I have heard chatter that I can't quite make out, and this has happened with no one around. The only other experience was one that Andy had. He was coming home from work around 1am one night, and as he was climbing the stairs to our apartment he heard plain as day, "This is not what I expected." It was so clear that he stopped and turned around to see who was following him, but no one was there. So he went into the main office to see if anyone was there late for some reason, but it was empty. I suppose it would be fitting for a person who has passed on to be surprised at what it was like on the other side, but very odd that Andy was able to hear their opinion of it. We have never felt a negative presence, so I have never been bothered in that regard either. So no it wasn't creepy, and no we weren't haunted, but I do believe that some spirits hang around longer than others and that the veil is sometimes very thin. What I mean is that the after life is, at times, not too far from where we are.
This will defiantly be a story to tell our children someday. We have sacrificed a lot to live here, but we have been very blessed as well. It is funny how our Father in Heaven knows what we want and what we need, and if we ask and seek for it, he will provide us with opportunities. They may not always be easy or pleasant, but His little tender mercies get us where we need to go. We are provided with relief in one way or another, even though it is not always immediate or apparent unless we try our best to look for the good in things. Whatever we go through, it is because He loves us, and it is exactly what we need to end up as the best version of ourselves and in the best situation for that time in our lives. Always have faith in His timing, and remember the things you are promised. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, He will ALWAYS hold up his. What an experience this has been, and I look forward to the opportunities and adventures I will have in the future! Thank you so much for reading, and feel free to ask questions if you have any!
Loves,
Kylie
