A Soldier's Final Trip Home

Don Collins stood in the sun and mapped out in his mind a rectangle on the grass, eight feet by three feet. He is forty-nine, wears a handful of pomade in his hair, and no longer needs a tape to take the measure of things. Indiana state law dictates that the lid of the burial vault be two feet below the surface. That meant Collins had to dig down five feet, ultimately lifting out about a hundred cubic feet of earth. He wouldn't need a tape to measure that, either. Since 1969, his father, Don Sr., has owned the Collins Funeral Home, just up Elm Street, just past the little yellow house with the two yellow ribbons tied to the tree out front. As a boy, Don Jr. had lived upstairs with the spirits and the rest of his family, over the chapel. He and his younger brother, Kevin, would later work with their dad in the back room, embalming the bodies of their neighbors at three o'clock in the morning, and he still assists his father in his capacity as coroner. But Don Jr. has had enough of bodies in back rooms. He likes it better outside, in the sticky air, working with the earth. [View in Browser]( [Alternate text] [SHOP]( EXCLUSIVE [SUBSCRIBE]( [The Things That Carried Him]( [The Things That Carried Him]( Don Collins stood in the sun and mapped out in his mind a rectangle on the grass, eight feet by three feet. He is forty-nine, wears a handful of pomade in his hair, and no longer needs a tape to take the measure of things. Indiana state law dictates that the lid of the burial vault be two feet below the surface. That meant Collins had to dig down five feet, ultimately lifting out about a hundred cubic feet of earth. He wouldn't need a tape to measure that, either. Since 1969, his father, Don Sr., has owned the Collins Funeral Home, just up Elm Street, just past the little yellow house with the two yellow ribbons tied to the tree out front. As a boy, Don Jr. had lived upstairs with the spirits and the rest of his family, over the chapel. He and his younger brother, Kevin, would later work with their dad in the back room, embalming the bodies of their neighbors at three o'clock in the morning, and he still assists his father in his capacity as coroner. But Don Jr. has had enough of bodies in back rooms. He likes it better outside, in the sticky air, working with the earth. [Read More]( [Amazon Is Slashing Prices on Top-Rated Grills—And These Deals Are Red-Hot]( [Amazon Is Slashing Prices on Top-Rated Grills—And These Deals Are Red-Hot]( We’re all fired up! [Read More]( [21 Too-Good-To-Miss Memorial Day Deals on Home and Kitchen Wares]( [21 Too-Good-To-Miss Memorial Day Deals on Home and Kitchen Wares]( Your home sweet home is desperate for good savings isn't it? [Read More]( [Miranda Lambert Goes Her Own Way]( [Miranda Lambert Goes Her Own Way]( It was 2010, and Miranda Lambert was nervous. 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