This was such a nice reply, thank you, it really made my day (probably even two days). How sad that lemmy lost you, but I think I get it. It’s not 100% my vibe either. Maybe one day it will change in a way that makes you want to try it out again. I’m probably typing this into a void but just in case you pop in again you, as well, deserve a friendly hello.

And I really hope you pop back in because frankly, having an archeologist who specialized in deathways is super interesting. I imagine you have so many things to tell. How are American deathways different from other cultures? What stands out? How did Native Americans influence the settling Europeans, and vice versa? Was there any influence to begin with? How did it change over time? What is the most heartfelt detail about how the dead were/are handled that might be special to that culture, in your opinion? What is the most grotesque aspect? How has your studies influenced how you view death itself, and how has it influenced your view on funerals? What would you do if you emigrated into a vastly different culture (in regards to last wishes etc)? What are the most common misconceptions, fun facts, and what touched you the most? And why exactly did you end up specializing in such a field anyway?

I realize I’m probably asking these questions into a void, but man, should you ever be back here - let me know how I can read up on your work, ok?

You remind me of a PhD candidate I met when working for theater and he was writing his thesis on Russian folklore fairy tales, and told me that he noticed a pattern of a circular repetition of themes in each story. I wish I remembered his name and were able to look up what he published, but I don’t, and it saddens me that I missed out on such an interesting topic that I would have wanted to know more about. It seems like I will miss out once more. (Hey, is that a circular repeat?)