Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

This has become a quote I use quite often, although it’s more paraphrasing, “We do the best we can with what we have.” Same difference.

From July of 2022 to February 2024, I worked in cemetery sales. I went from a Family Service Advisor, to Location Coordinator, to out, in that amount of time.

No, I wasn’t let go, or fired, or nudged out; I left on my own free will. As humans, we all have free will.

The freedom to do what we want, when we want, how we want, where we want, with whom we want. Now, there will always be consequences or celebrations to such feats, but free will still exists.

After 7–8ish years in funeral service, I needed the break. I know, I still worked within the same realm, in death care, but it was different in many ways. Let’s count them.

Number one: The schedule. I began at 8AM every morning (Monday through Friday) and left at 4:30PM. In the rare instance that I stayed later, it was only 15–30 minutes, when an appointment went over. I was home by 5PM practically every night, outside of those Target or Aldi pickups my wife set up for us (I mean, me).

Number two: The money. I made more money than previously as a funeral director, on an overall scale. I was salary and commission. I had months where I sold well over $100,000 worth of cemetery products (i.e. grave spaces, crypts, headstones, vaults, etc.). My take-home pay during those months was double my monthly mortician checks.