Laura Wood loves to walk her dog, explore her new Moray coastal home, oh and she talks to dead people.
“There’s nothing odd about it,” she says.
But then at 36 years old this affable Aberdonian is the proud co-owner of a funeral director business and is preparing for her embalming exams.
“I’m maybe the last person who will ever get to look after somebody’s loved one. So every minute I’m with them I’ll treat them like it was my mum or my granny being taken care of.
“I’ll just blether away. ‘That’s me just coming to get you ready for your big day Mary… It’s not weird, it’s a privilege.”
Warm and welcoming
This sentiment is obvious to see.
It’s just three months since she stepped into her first senior role, taking over the reins of Joe Dawson Funeral Home in Buckie.
The newly painted aubergine walls, tartan carpets and fluffy cushions are synonymous with the warmth that Laura herself exudes.
Previously owned by a husband and wife team, the business was bought as a going concern. Backed financially by her previous employers – Berriedale Funerals – her years there and with the Co-op have honed her skillset.
‘I knew this was the life for me’
But a career in funerals didn’t come easy.
“I was knocked back twice before I finally got a start,” she says laughing. “I think they must have thought I was mad coming back time and again, but I knew deep within myself that this is what I wanted to do.”
It’s an epiphany many of us never get, but for Laura it was the death of her great-grandmother that brought about this “knowing”.
“If I’m honest, it wasn’t a great experience. I remember going to see her and she just didn’t look at all like herself and it really upset me.
“Years later my grandma, who was like a mum to me, passed away. She had a particular thing she did to her hair and the funeral director hadn’t done it. I just had this sense of ‘urgh, I should have done it’. And that was it. I never wanted any family to go through the pain of seeing a loved one like that.”
Learning to embalm
From then on Laura, a former pupil of Torry Academy, threw herself into her new career.
Even when it wasn’t part of her role she volunteered to do hair and make-up for the people resting at the funeral home.
Embalming, then, was the next natural step.
The process of using chemicals to slow natural effects of death on the body, embalming helps keep skin “looking plump”; it can help the deceased appear as though sleeping.
“For me it’s a very caring thing to do, so I always offer it as a service,” said Laura. “It’s just an extension of preparing someone for their funeral. Though I do know the thought of embalming seems to spark a bit of morbid curiosity in some people.”
Dating hindrance
And not just curiosity. For some, Laura’s job is too much to handle.
“I’ve had to change my dating profile so I’m right up front with being a funeral director,” she laughs. “I just haven’t got time to go out for dinner and see someone freaked out half way through because I tell them what I do.
“Plus it’s not exactly nine to five. I work all hours.
“At the end of the day, this is what I’m passionate about. I have a business and I really care, which is why I do what I do.
“I’m not ashamed to be a funeral director or an embalmer.”
Looking after loved ones
Taught by Paul Scott, a qualified embalmer and mortician manager at Berriedale, Laura begins the embalming process by making a small incision to find an artery. From there she uses fluids to mimic the circulatory system. It’s not a procedure every family opts for but it’s one she has performed on her own loved ones.
“Yeah, I’ve embalmed people I care about. It can be difficult. We lost my best friend’s sister – who I’ve known since I was five – and it was devastating. I looked after her when she came to to us to rest. I know she would have wanted me to do it [embalm her] but I did worry that her family would come in and not be happy somehow.”
Handling emotions
Though matter-of-fact about her role, there’s undoubtedly a cost to the “privilege”.
Not only have Laura and her cocker spaniel, Daisy, relocated from Aberdeen to Buckie, a move that’s surpassed her expectations; they love their new tight-knit community. She also carries with her the memories of all those whose funerals she’s organised.
“You do get upset, of course you do. But you learn to channel it. The last thing I want is to burden a family with my emotions on top of their own.
“If you don’t feel moved from time to time I’d question if the job is right for you. The moment it’s business only you’re in the wrong profession.
“There’s still pieces of music now that stop me in my tracks because I remember the funeral of a baby or a young person I was part of.”
Do Buckie proud
For now Laura, and Daisy who is registered as a Therapet, are settling in to their new life in Buckie.
“I’m excited. Everyone here has been fantastic. When I look ahead to the next 10 years I know I’ll have built something that really does justice to the amazing people who live here.
“If they [people of Buckie] take to me the way they have Daisy, it’ll all work out.”