Here are some the news stories you may have inadvertently missed in the last week.
In India, a man killed his girlfriend three days before his wedding (to someone else). Such was the stench of her decomposing body, he used 70 cans of perfume to disguise the smell. He was arrested on his honeymoon – http://bit.ly/1mAQBOq
Nice description here of the old corpse road joining Rydal and Grasmere – http://bit.ly/1U1fYGK See also – http://bit.ly/1SqcMos
As health experts strive to terrify us with the ‘finding’ that a glass of wine can give you galloping cancer, here’s the 107 year-old who proves them wrong – http://bit.ly/1SqcMos
One for the goths, a shop in Australia specialising in mortabilia – http://dailym.ai/1KPhlGq
A court in Belfast ruled that an unmarried partner is entitled to bereavement allowance – http://bit.ly/1KG82Zl
In India a post-mortem was performed by an ambulance driver. A relative of the dead person observed, “When we were putting the body in the ambulance, the head almost came off.” – http://bit.ly/1Kj8SLK
Dr Michael Irwin counselled ‘Simon’s Choice’ subject, Simon Binner, about assisted suicide – .http://bit.ly/1LoomJb Remarkable man, Dr Irwin. If you’ve never checked out his organisation, SOARS, it’s high time you did – http://bit.ly/1SqegPA
Here’s a man who says that a celebration of life is a denial of the reality of death. Take out the religious content, does he still have a point? – http://bit.ly/1Th7uuz
A man in Nigeria who neglected to marry his partner must now marry her corpse in order to enable her to be decently buried – http://bit.ly/1QAUkDK
A group of people in Farnborough hope to raise £5000 in order to convert a cemetery chapel into a columbarium – http://bit.ly/1KNhieh
Our friends at Flexmort have created this ingenious pop-up mortuary – http://bit.ly/1LooSqO
In the wake of the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal, Scotland looks like pulling back from licensing undertakers – http://bbc.in/1oBPP5h
In the US, SCI is losing market share. The GFG prays that nothing like this should befall its spawn in the UK: Dignity plc (hiss) – http://bit.ly/1SqfxpW
Finally, if you didn’t see it (it’s gruelling) you can still watch Simon’s Choice here – http://bbc.in/1XjDT3O
Have a great week.
Denial of the reality of death? Or denial of an after life? When we don’t believe in an after-life, accepting the reality of death is all the more important, as is acknowledging the life that was. I’ve completely fallen out of love with the expression ‘celebration of life’.
Also this week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06ztzwn on Woman’s Hour The life of a female undertaker: Gemma O’Driscoll set up her own funeral directors three years ago in South Wales. What a fabulous woman! Even if she does say ‘celebration of life’!
Whoops, that’s one story the intern missed, Kitty. Thank you; you have sent me scrambling for the knob of my wireless.
“Wireless”!! Oh Charles, how I love you!
As to the chap’s rant about CoL, my leaflet strap line used to be: ‘We’re sad they died because we’re glad they lived — mourning loss, celebrating life.’ You can’t have left without right, light without darkness, life without death, a beginning without an end, celebration of life without grief. He’s right about denying death, but to say “…A funeral depends on resurrection” is just as presumptuous as it is to use celebration of life as a decoy for mourners at a healthy grieving ritual.