Reddit reviews The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

Personally, I can't bury a child without seeing my own. Fortunately it's not often. If you haven't already read it I would suggest The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch. There is a chapter in the book that talks about how he deals with the death of a child.

My favorite passage from the chapter and the entire book is "And I would never charge more than the wholesale cost of the casket and throw in our services free of charge with the hope in my heart that God would, in turn, spare me the hollowing grief of these parents."

That is what I do, and it's what a lot of us do, along with many other little touches and rituals. Hoping that if I go the extra mile, I'll be spared. Of course it didn't work for me, I still had to bury one of my own, but, I still do it. It's the right thing to do.