A while ago, I worked as a cosmetologist, and specifically sometimes as a cosmetologist who sometimes worked on dead people. For the most part, this was pretty mundane - my job was to create a pleasing version of the person that once lived for display to friends and family at a funeral. One woman, though, I still remember doing seven years ago.

I painted her fingernails and made her face up, including her cheeks, eyelids, and eyebrows. She was almost radiantly pretty. She had a heart shaped face and thick brown hair that went down to her neckline and wearing kind of a loose floral dress. I could see right away how pretty she must have been in life. When I looked up her name and birth date I found out she was 26.

I didn't do anything out of my league except rearrange and tuck her hair around the the satin pillow cradling her head and look under the lower lid of the casket. Her dress ended shortly above her knees and I could see she was being laid to rest barefoot. I guessed she was about 5'8'', but I couldn't really tell based on the length of the casket because someone at the funeral home had thoughtfully put a pillow, also satin, at her feet. I guessed I wouldn't need to do her toes since no one would be seeing them.

After finding out this ladies name I found pictures of her alive and I've occasionally gotten myself of to them since. Turns out she was a babe, but I still feel a bit bad about it.