We cling to final rituals because they feel like proof that love doesn’t end where a heartbeat stops. A kiss on a cold forehead, a hand held too long, a whisper into ears that no longer hear — these gestures are our way of refusing the brutal finality of loss. Yet behind the intimacy of that moment lies a reality our hearts would rather ignore: the body is already beginning to change, and with it comes bacteria, odors, and potential health risks that can linger long after the funeral is over.
Honoring the dead doesn’t have to mean endangering the living. Love is not measured in how closely we press our lips to still skin, but in the memories we carry, the stories we tell, and the tenderness we show the living who remain. Sometimes the most compassionate goodbye is the one that protects you, allowing you to remember them as they were — warm, alive, and untouched by the silence of decay.