We’ve been busy in the store, building walls for dressing rooms, assembling shelving and placing furniture.  I’ve still got to finish the bathroom (light fixture, mirror, etc.) and get the floors cleaned.

ABOVE:  My dad installs hardware on a dressing room door. 
BELOW:  A completed dressing room.

Stock will begin to arrive next week, which means sorting, steaming, hanging and entering into the computer system.  Oh yeah, and I need to buy a computer system.

It never ends, but it’s been a fun ride so far.

As anyone who’s been reading the blog will know, I’ve been very busy getting ready to open our new retail store.  We’re going to be selling uniforms for nurses, firefighters and police officers.

When we started, the store was just a shell, with only a bathroom and small “kitchen nook” area.  To that, we need to add dressings rooms, partition for our back area where we’ll continue to make our quilted cot covers and a cash register area.

Here are some pictures of our current progress:

The walls were already painted and the floor is terrazzo, so we don’t have to do a lot of other painting.  We’ve actually done a bit more than these photos, but I didn’t take any of the store before we left for fireworks (our city always does them on the first Friday of July, to coincide with our famous, rocking street party).

You may have noticed how little I’ve been writing lately.  That’s because I was working on the 2nd Annual Central Florida Fire Muster.  I told you about last year’s muster in the post, Advertising Before You’re Good Enough. 

But this year, I have video to show you what fun we had:

In addition to the blog, my company (selling cot covers!), preparations for the Georgia Expo next week and all the plans for the 126th Annual GeorgeFest in my little town, I’ve also been prepping a display for the Eustis Historical Museum and Preservation Society.

Headquartered in a turn-of-the-century house built by one of the town’s fathers, the Eustis Historical Museum gathers memorabilia and artifacts from the 126+ years of our area’s history and presents it throughout rooms in the spacious home.

I was recently elected the 1st Vice President of the society (I wasn’t busy enough, I guess) and I spent a few hours talking with my fellow officers about future plans.  We’re testing out one of those plans here, by letting the fire department – something I know well – become the first “swing exhibit” at the museum. 

If this display, which is tucked into a back room, does well, we have plans to kick off June with an exhibit of local wedding dresses throughout history, complete with days where locals can renew their wedding vows in the Unity Bell Clifford Gazebo (on the grounds) or in the front parlor.

We’ll host an “opening” for the fire dept. exhibit in a few weeks.  If you’re in town, I hope to see you there!

Every year, my friend Carla Mitchell goads me into driving a car in the African-American Heritage Parade.  In 2007 and 2008, I drove my own convertible.  But since I sold it last year, I had to borrow this beautiful Mercedes-Benz to make the trip.

Riding with me are Patricia Moore (left) and Miss Eula Belle Douglas (right).

Patricia is one of the three founding members of the Eustis African-American Heritage Festival.  Against the protests of the other two founders, she pushed hard for the inclusion of a kick-0ff parade.  After they dropped their resistance, the parade made it’s debut and has been a fitting beginning to a day full of music, food and fellowship for the past 15 years.

This year, Patricia withdrew from helping with the festivities because she’s battling cancer.  A hospice nurse by training, Patricia knows all too well how important it is for her to spend time with her family and friends, as her diagnosis is terminal.

Without her knowledge, the committee made her the grand marshal and sprung it on her at the last minute. 

The night before the parade, the committee held the annual Black Achievers Banquet and honored 12 area African-Americans for their efforts to better themselves and their community.

Ms. Eula Belle Douglas, known around town and “Godmomma” for the number of children she either raised or babysat in over 53 years in Eustis, was one of the honorees and rode in my car with Ms. Moore.

I enjoy driving in the parade and seeing all the excited children, eagerly anticipating candy and the festival to follow.

Plus, the food at the festival is AWESOME!!!

I was hoping to make this post bright and cheerful, since we’re launching the updated version of our COT COVER website, but, rather than putting lots of effort behind tweaking every corner of our beautiful new layout, I’ve been making phone calls and arrangements to help my family during a difficult time.

Seems my dad’s stepbrother, Kenny, was discovered unconscious yesterday by his wife.  She works an overnight detail for Darden restaurants, handing translation for their properties around the world and is needed at very early and late hours.

When she returned home to wake up her family and get her daughter ready for school, she found her husband unresponsive.

Rushed to the hospital by ambulance, he was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and hooked up to life support systems.  He remained in a coma while his wife, my step-aunt-in-law (?) talked with doctors and assessed how his living will would affect treatment.

After discussing his prognosis – grim, at best – the decision was made to honor his living will and remove life support.  The tubes and machines were removed at 8:00 pm last night.

He stopped breathing at 9:00 am this morning.

The funeral services will mirror those we held for his father, Ronald Skipper, last year, who I described in the post, A Death in the Family: Part 1.

My uncle, Kenneth Skipper, served in the United States Air Force (just like his dad), married a woman from Spain and had a beautiful daughter, Sarah.  After he left the military, he made commercials for a local TV station.

A funny, dashing guy, Kenny was sidelined in recent years by a terrible back injury.  Complications forced him to stop working because of the long-term disability.

Lately, I’d only seen Kenny at family events – Christmas, family birthday gatherings – so my interactions were minimal.  But I know he was kind because I saw how gingerly and reverently he treated his daughter.  He was quick with a smile and a hug. 

I talk a lot, here, about the logistics of death – how we help families, how we reach families – but the philosophy of death isn’t something I think about too often. 

I’ve chronicled the death of at least three of the WWII-generation members of my family.  The grandparents are dying and my younger brain says “hey, they’re supposed to die.  That’s the way it works.”

But now it’s the generation just ahead of me.

I think when I see my dad this week, I’ll hug him just a little longer.

By the way, don’t forget to check out our redesigned site, www.cotcovers.com.  It’s not done yet, but I’m proud of what we’ve got so far.  In the next few weeks, I’ll be adding video tutorials and the ability to order online.

At “Big Family Christmas” with my dad’s extended family.  37 of us got together this year to exchange gifts, eat an awesome meal (featuring everything from “Alpo on a cracker” to authentic Spanish paella and fried turkey) and play some truly odd games that my family has devised.  Here’s video where I try to explain Holey Board, only to have my cousin ridicule me in the background.

If you want to know more about the game, check out the official website of some people who make Holey Boards for a lot of money.

I also went to an exciting Eustis High School JV basketball game.  Trailing by a point with 8 seconds left, the Panthers drove the length of the court and fed the ball to their big man, Josh.  As he shot the basket, time ran out.

He missed, but the ref signaled that Josh had been fouled while attempting the shot.  After clearing the court, the official gave Josh the ball to shoot two free throws.

The pressure was clear:  sink one and go to overtime.  Sink both and win the game.  Watch the video to see not only Josh’s performance but the opposing coach’s reaction (he’s the one getting ejected from the game after the free throws):

This is my dog, Thor.  We rescued him from the pound.  His last owners gave him the name and hit him in the head a lot, which may explain why he’s so headshy.

He says “hey!”

I’ve been spending a lot of my time getting ready for Christmas here in my hometown of Eustis, Florida.

From decorating my own house to helping set up events in town, there’s a lot happening in our quiet Central Florida village.

Here’s a few highlights:

My fire department delivers Santa Claus to “Light Up Eustis,” the local Christmas kick-off event.

I visit the Christmas House, sponsored by the Eustis Historical Museum.

We see The Parade of Trees above and the Christmas House below.

Creating Christmas at my house.

Readers:

I’ve been so busy lately getting covers ready for our convention buyers (still a few more to go!) and helping my friend, Michael, get elected to the Eustis City Commission.

Last night, around 10:30 pm, I accomplished the second goal.

Michael won Seat 3 of the Eustis City Commission like this:

So I’m going to rest for a day or two.  Then I’ll get back to telling you all about the NFDA Convention and I’ll share with you what I’m going to talk about at the OGR Conference this Monday.

Thanks again for your support and for reading the blog.  Talk to you soon.

TIM

For many of my loyal readers, it’ll seem like I’ve been absent from life for the past few weeks.

Truth be told, LIFE is the very reason I’ve been absent from this blog for so long.

Now, I won’t make excuses for my sporadic posts (I hate blogs where the writer apologizes and gives all kinds of explanations for how the blog has “run its course” or “taken up too much time”) because there is no excuse to make:  I write posts here when I have something to say about the topic.

And while we discuss a variety of important topics on Final Embrace (most notably funeral home management, funeral marketing, funeral industry vendor issues, etc.) there are times when not much is going on in the industry.

But I haven’t been completely silent on the issues of our chosen field.  I’m putting the finishing touches on an article for Funeral Business Advisor that looks at upcoming conventions and trade shows (notably, the ICCFA Convention in San Diego) and how to prepare for them from both an attendee and exhibitor viewpoint.

That article uses a lot of the experiences I’ve had attending and exhibiting at local and national conventions.

I’m also participating in an interview with Robin Heppell of Funeral Gurus next week.  Our discussion will center around Internet technologies, like blogs and social networks and how funeral homes can utilize them to better serve clients.

I’ve also been featured in a recent off-line article about podcasting and the Internet, by a young writer out of the Northeast.  His piece deals with the popularity of blogging and podcasting and how niche markets are being targeted by Internet media like blogs and podcasts.

In addition, I’ve just finished helping out with all the GeorgeFest 2008 activities in our small town of Eustis, Florida.  The second-longest festival in the U.S.A., GeorgeFest celebrates George Washington’s birthday with fireworks, a festival, a parade, a dog jog race, bed races, hotdog eating contest, cherry pie eating contest, the 7th Annual Citrus Squeeze and much more!

The whole event, with the exception of the parade which was rained out, was an awesome success!  But I’m also REALLLLLLY tired!

And in two weeks, I get to lead the 1st Annual Greenwood Cemetery Tours in Eustis.  We’ll be telling the history of our community through the beautiful municipal cemetery, just off a main road in town.  As costumed volunteers in period garb quietly pay their respects at graves of different eras, we’ll learn about 6 or 7 of our fellow Eustis residents and how their lives affected our small town.  The tour will end at a recent burial, where I’ll remind our guests that cemeteries are “living” places, with new history being made everyday and new stories waiting to be discovered.

In the meantime, I’ve decided to provide more substantive posts here, if only because I’ve covered a lot of the simple issues in funeral service.  Now, I’d like to write larger pieces that deal with bigger topics or provide a more-detailed view of a specific issue.  So I won’t be writing as often, but hopefully, my writing will be better and more substantive.

I’ll talk with you again soon.

–TIM

Here’s my trip to the fire station (at least the last part!):

 My little town of Eustis (pop. 17,000+) just kicked off a 125th birthday bash!

I’m on the committee for the celebration, which may explain why one of the big events planned for the first 125 days is guided tours of both of the historic cemeteries in town.

I’ll share more about then as it gets closer.

We spent the first day of 2008 celebrating our founding just 125 years ago by gathering in the park for a 1-hour symphony concert, champagne toast to the city and a beautiful birthday cake.

(Incoming Mayor Evelyn Smith cuts the 125th birthday cake)

We had at least 1200 folks come out to hear the symphony and toast the city’s 125th year.

Later this month we’ll continue the celebration with our monthly street party (several bands, festival food, great games for the kids) on the first Friday of January.

January 19th brings the Antique Boat and Car Show to town. 

January 26th welcomes the Eustis Museum of Art’s Fine Arts Festival.

During the week of February 10th, Eustis celebrates the African-American Heritage Festival, with a parade, pageants and an awards banquet that celebrates the achievements of influential members of the community.

Then we’ve got the biggest event of the year:  GeorgeFest.

The longest continuously-celebrated festival in Florida, GeorgeFest commemorates George Washington’s birthday.  Three days of activities, the festival includes a big parade, dog jog, carnival rides, Citrus Squeeze and other fun contests.  Downtown merchants decorate their storefront windows, there’s a President’s Ball and we crown the Orange King and Queen.  You can see the full slate of activities at our website, www.EustisGeorgeFest.com.

Why don’t you join us?

My sister and her wife, Jennifer, love maroon, or so they say.  So I decided to give them a variation on the traditional double wedding ring quilt by weaving some “ribbons” for them.

So I cut wide strips of my three maroon-ish colors and tiny 1″ strips of my black fabric, as seen here:

Then, I pressed them open, like this:

Then I cut 7.5″ squares and stacked them opposite ways and sewed them, like this:

Then they looked like this:

THENNNNN, I sewed them all together in a really boring process, until they looked like:

In the end, I added a black border (over parts of which I continued the “ribbons”) and backed it with the same black fabric, so it looked like this:

The colors “weave” in and out of each other (especially visible up-close) and suggest an intertwining.  I kinda think the very light color is Jen (she’s a sweet, quiet woman) and the paisley is my sister, Crystal (not so quiet).  Without the darker color (love) they wouldn’t be so strong.

Of course, if you don’t like syrupy sentiment, then it’s just a really cool geometric design.

I told ya’ll I was making quilts for Christmas.  Here’s the first one I made for my niece:

You may recognize it as the purple quilt I talked about in the post titled Purple Lattice Quilt.

She loved it.  More soon!