Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn A Healing and Meditative Landscape | Page 22

When Staff Becomes Client: The Cemetery from a Different Perspective By Rich Snow, Director of Information Technology Coming from a family of artists, I have always appreciated the beautiful and serene landscape of the Cemetery in the midst of a busy urban area. And the landscape of Mount Auburn attracted me to work here as its Information Technology (IT) Director. Working with computers can mean long hours in a cubicle under fluorescent lights. Here at Mount Auburn, though, we can stretch our legs in a lovely environment, also knowing that our work helps families to commemorate their loved ones. Last year, my wife, Diana Snow, succumbed to throat cancer, likely caused by an earlier course of radiation for tongue cancer in 2000. We were thankful for fifteen good years in which Diana earned two Black Belts in Tae Kwon Do and celebrated many happy occa- sions with friends and family. It had not occurred to us that we might want burial space someday—I had always imagined I would not be buried at all—or that Diana would predecease me. But as she weakened while undergoing treatment, we came across a workbook put out by the Funeral Consumer’s Alliance called “Before I Go You Should Know,” avail- able at http://funerals.org. This work- book helps you generate notes for who to call and what to take care of when your loved one passes on. It helped us to open a discussion about what Diana’s wishes were around her death. Diana agreed that Cremation was an option, and as we discussed it, we decided that a space at Mount Auburn would be a nice memorial to her for her friends and me. Tom Johnson from the Cemetery Sales team took me around to a variety of locations and I picked one for us both. Tom provided clear information in a calm and 20 | Sweet Auburn compassionate way. I didn’t know then how soon we would need to use it. Cancer treatment is a whirlwind of schedules, driving in traffic, drugs, visiting nurses, food and equipment drop-offs, much of which occurs at home. Maintaining a schedule for administering drugs and tube feeding is quite challenging. As the requirements for her care threatened to become overwhelming, Diana’s oncologist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute recommended that we sign up for hospice, which came on board in a matter of days. Unfortunately Diana continued to decline, and she was gone in two weeks. Our planning for a burial space and a memorial had been timely. I can’t say enough about the caring and support that my family and I received from everyone at the Cemetery. When the time came, Tom recommended a funeral home in Belmont, which was ex- tremely helpful. And everyone from the front office down through the grounds and interment crews were right there to help and offer support during the process of cremating the remains and burying Diana. I am re- ally proud of the work they do, and I know that they provide the same level of care to all of our customers and their families. Mount Auburn is a beautiful historic place, a botanical garden, and an active Cemetery, but just as much Mount Auburn is a family. In July we hosted a send-off for Diana for her friends and family and for the entire staff. After the Chapel Service we shared a beautiful afternoon reception on Bigelow Lawn. What a wonderful way for Diana’s many friends in each of her life’s facets to celebrate her, together.