Book excerpt: This book is written to inspire the next generation of embalmers to be the best they can be and remind the "old hands" that we can still learn and strive for greatness. The families that we serve deserve it. There are those who proclaim that embalming is dying or dead (pun intended). Cremation is the only future, some say. "Don't waste your time learning embalming for goodness sake. Learn to rebuild the retort or replace the recording wheel. After all, those are the required skills of the future. Furthermore, formaldehyde will be outlawed and that will be the end of embalming," others will say. For those of you in states where cremation is (or will be) in the 70-90% range, remember that there will still be that percentage of families who may want traditional services that include embalming. There will also be those who want cremation after embalming and visitation. It is the embalmer in these high cremation areas who really needs to maintain skills so that when called upon, you are ready. It is the previous embalmers who will be limited by repetition due to cremation and who must really remember and practice standards of care and professional techniques. Will embalming decrease over the coming decades? It already has. Will embalming and embalmers become obsolete like typewriters and printed yellow pages? No. In fact, great embalmers will naturally excel in a free market system. There will be a need for great embalmers. It is my hope that the following pages, chapters, standards, and ideas empower those of you who are embalmers and those of you who want to be prepared to serve those families who will value the services that only a professional embalmer can provide.