Narrative Medicine Monday: My Grandmother’s Body

Author Anna Leahy writes about “My Grandmother’s Body” in Sweet, an online literary journal. Leahy describes the funeral director, who arrives when called, wearing “his funeral-director suit.” The professional Leahy witnesses is experienced, noting “the stairs’ ninety-degree turn / without changing pace.” The director asks “if he might / lift her himself to carry her downstairs” and Leahy finds a kind of comfort in this. She thinks, “What a relief / to think of her last moment at home, cradled / in the man’s arms.”

Leahy’s poem is a snapshot of a moment and a man, revealing the funeral director’s practicality and reverence for his work and the relief this provides for those who love the deceased. We often reflect on the last moments right before a person dies, but Leahy’s poem, like Lisa Knopp’s “Leaving the Body,” focuses instead on those just after: the weighty finality, the people who interact with the body and the importance this holds for those still living.

Writing Prompt: Have you been near a dead body, either of a loved one or of a patient? What was the experience like? How was the body retrieved, and to where? How did you feel about how this was accomplished? Alternatively, think about your impressions of the funeral director as described by Leahy. Consider writing the scene from his point of view. Write for 10 minutes.