Once Upon a Lime...

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.   —  Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789   Bleak, but accurate. I'm not a morbid person -- there was no goth phase, no romance with the macabre for me. Caitlin Doughty on the other hand, takes morbid fascination and practically bathes in it. She doesn't look like a one woman danse macabre but it only takes one video or one chapter of her book to realize you're dealing with someone who lives for death. I've been reading her book ,  Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory.  Doughty is the titular star of the Ask a Mortician YouTube series. In her book, Doughty pulls back the coffin lining on the death industry and modern society's warped relationship with death, decay and mourning. Whenever I read about a mother being asked to leave or c...