MVB: Does it help that you each understand what the other is doing, especially when one or both of you has to work long hours and weekends?

KS: It would be so much harder to do what we do if the other person didn’t understand it. It can be a struggle. There are times when Gayla is meeting with a family at 6:30 p.m. and times when I have to work until 10 p.m. It does help that we both understand it.

MVB: Your work requires you to help families through a very difficult time. Does being a family-run business help with that?

GS: Every single family we see is different. We do the same things for each, but it’s always different. Some families let you in and others keep you at arm’s^& length. Some you see for years and years and they become friends. We have one family who is still on our Christmas card list who we met our first year here.

MVB: Does helping families deal with their loss get easier over time?

GS: It actually gets harder. For me, the hardest is the loss of a child. Whenever a parent goes through that it’s hard — but it’s even harder for me now as a parent myself.

MVB: Do your girls understand what you do for a living?

KS: They don’t get it. They just call it work. They pick up on different things. They know all of our staff and will look on our Web page with me and talk about the people they know.

GS: Sometimes they go through the newspaper with Grandma and cut out our ads with the pictures in them. But we don’t talk about it a lot when we’re at home with them. We try not to talk about it too much until they’re in bed.

MVB: Do you think the girls will be involved in the business in some way as they grow older?

GS: Do we want them to graduate from college with mortuary science degrees? That’s too hard to answer. But do we want them to have a summer job here while they’re in high school? Absolutely.