Lucas' New Job!

Lucas got a new job, again! He loved his job at Chapel Hill Mortuary and Cemetery, but they were completely unrealistic about what the income potential was. There wasn’t enough money coming in. With our baby coming in a few months, we needed something more reliable. The great thing about the job was he found what he calls “his calling”. He loves working with people and being there for them when they are going through such hard times. He loves being able to come from a place of understanding and helping them to make the hard decisions. It’s not every day a person learns exactly what it is they want to do with their life, so we will always be grateful for Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill was like this conversation (that we had many many times):

Lucas gets home from work.

A: Hooray you’re home! How was work?!

L: It was great!

A: Good, I’m so glad. Did you have any appointments or make a sale?

L: Nope, but I talked to mr. So-n-so about his wife for two hours and we talked about everything. Grief and life and our babies and I really think it helped him to talk about it. It was really great.  So I didn’t make a dollar today, but it was still a great day.

And then he would happily go about the evening. Money was the last thing we cared about. I made enough to get by, and  I love seeing him doing something he loves and making a difference to people. Sure, we wished that he could find something he loved AND get paid for it, but I would never ask him to leave something he loved so much. Coming home happy and feeling good about the way you spend your time is more valuable than dollars to me.

Then, one day my mom told me of a connection to someone in the Funeral Industry. It was like “Amber, Ceci’s sister’s boyfriend’s dad co-owns a bunch of funeral homes in Colorado. You should have Lucas call him. He’s also the bishops cousin” (something like that)

So Lucas called him, and it went great. He set up an interview. Lucas went and talked to this guy about his passion for the work and what led him here. He wasn’t interviewing for a job per-se. Kinda just hoping this connection would go somewhere. They talked for an hour and then a week later he got asked to come back and meet someone else.  After meeting with the people with this other company, Lucas was SURE he found the place he wants to work. He decided he wanted to be a funeral director and would do what it takes to get there. We were REALLY REALLY excited and super hopeful that they would find a position for him. Our favorite thing about the company is that it seemed to have great values, treat their customers right, and care more in general.

Then one day Lucas got a call from them. They said that they really liked him and believed in his passion. They wanted to offer him a position with the company and give him the opportunity he was looking for. They said, “We don’t have an open position, but we like you so we are creating one for you!”

Oh man I was SOOOOOO happy and proud of my husband. He really is perfect for the job. He’s a gentle, loving, patient, and hard-working man and I just knew this was the start of something for him.  

He started work the next week.

Their company website is: www.Horancares.com

They said they are going to have him work in every position for a while, working his way through the company and learning how it all works and then he will end up as a Funeral Director (though there is potential to move upwards if he wants to and proves himself!)

Right now he is in the hardest job, in the care center. He is the person who picks up people who have passed away and takes them to the funeral home. He will pick them up from homes, hospitals, morgues, hospices, etc.

So its really really hard. He is working full time at the care center, and in the meantime he is also on call all the time. He gets called to a transfer at all hours of the night. I think he has had at least one call and up to three between midnight and 7am every single night since he started work. He doesn’t get any sleep. Then back to his full time work and then back to being on call. It’s never ending. It is really hard on him but I’m SO proud of him because he jumps at the calls and works so hard for our family.

We are hoping this position doesn’t last too long before its time to learn the next one, but he’ll do what it takes to reach his goal. We’re grateful for the opportunity but the current position is HARD. I’m so proud of Lucas. He’s a superhero I tell you.

Sometimes when I think about his job I cant help but imagine this: