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cjwatsonThanks for all your kind words following Mum's death.
A tremendous number of people came for the funeral (and some to view the body the day before as well); lots of family but also a contingent from our church back in Belfast, Dad's male voice choir, and others. Mum would have been pretty chuffed, I think. We spent quite a bit of time organising everything, so once the day came it ran very smoothly - just as well because of course we were in no state to do anything complicated. Joan read the first reading (Wisdom 3:1-6,9) and did very well (I decided not to try to read or sing). Canon John and Eileen from St. Colmcille's in Belfast both gave moving tributes.
Due to space constraints we couldn't carry the coffin out of the church, but Mum had wanted to be carried where possible ("And devout men carried Stephen to his burial", Acts 8:1), so we held a brief procession down the street in front of the church, and then again from the hearse to the grave; Dad, Ashley, and I helped with the second lift.
We laid long-stemmed roses in the grave.
Afterwards, we had tea in the church hall and then went back to Dad's. These days I mostly see my cousins at weddings and funerals, so it was good to catch up with some of them even on such an occasion, and I have a few more contact details than I previously had. Danny (my oldest friend, from Belfast) very kindly came over on short notice too, and I gave him a lift back to the airport in order to catch up a bit more. It's been too long.
It's seemed very quiet since then, and the hardest thing is remembering to use the past tense from time to time, or saying "Dad's house". I'm one of the executors of Mum's will, so on Thursday I had to go to a solicitor's and take an oath, which was a new experience. The will was very simple, though, so there is very little else I need to do there.
A tremendous number of people came for the funeral (and some to view the body the day before as well); lots of family but also a contingent from our church back in Belfast, Dad's male voice choir, and others. Mum would have been pretty chuffed, I think. We spent quite a bit of time organising everything, so once the day came it ran very smoothly - just as well because of course we were in no state to do anything complicated. Joan read the first reading (Wisdom 3:1-6,9) and did very well (I decided not to try to read or sing). Canon John and Eileen from St. Colmcille's in Belfast both gave moving tributes.
Due to space constraints we couldn't carry the coffin out of the church, but Mum had wanted to be carried where possible ("And devout men carried Stephen to his burial", Acts 8:1), so we held a brief procession down the street in front of the church, and then again from the hearse to the grave; Dad, Ashley, and I helped with the second lift.
We laid long-stemmed roses in the grave.
Afterwards, we had tea in the church hall and then went back to Dad's. These days I mostly see my cousins at weddings and funerals, so it was good to catch up with some of them even on such an occasion, and I have a few more contact details than I previously had. Danny (my oldest friend, from Belfast) very kindly came over on short notice too, and I gave him a lift back to the airport in order to catch up a bit more. It's been too long.
It's seemed very quiet since then, and the hardest thing is remembering to use the past tense from time to time, or saying "Dad's house". I'm one of the executors of Mum's will, so on Thursday I had to go to a solicitor's and take an oath, which was a new experience. The will was very simple, though, so there is very little else I need to do there.