Lawrence’s story
The following story is not new and it has been published elsewhere. I’d not seen it, and perhaps you hadn’t, either. It was sent to me by Lawrence’s mother, Virginia Prifti. “Lawrence’s death and cremation was incredibly powerful for us as a family. We decided to take control, organise our own goodbyes and keep Lawrence […]
At last, another celebrant trainer
A flurry of forwarded emails flies into our inbox. “What do you think of this?!?” they all demand. This? The NFFD’s freshly launched celebrant training venture. The consensus is that it stinks. What do we think? Well, let’s have a look. The NFFD’s given reason for entering the celebrant training market is “growing demand”. Some […]
Window shopping in Lubeck
Yeah yeah, it’s a rubbish photo, I know, I’m not blind. It’s the best I could do. It’s an undertaker’s window. In Germany. Me and the missus have been holidaying there. This undertaker is in the ancient city of Lubeck. As you can see (through a glass, darkly) the display is a series of objects […]
Portrait of a deaf man
Posted by Vale I was listening to a programme about the recordings John Betjeman made with Jim Parker, setting his verse to some glorious music. Until they played this, though, I’d forgotten how dark Betjeman could be. On A Portrait Of A Deaf Man The kind old face, the egg-shaped head, The tie, discretely loud, […]
Avoiding a Parking Fine before a Coventry Funeral
When David Hall, of Vintage Lorry Funerals, was booked for a funeral in the centre of Coventry he undertook research using Google Street-view. It was evident that building the inner city ring road had dissected streets, splitting them into two distinct parts, similarly to the impact imposed by the creation of the Berlin Wall in […]
Eulogies are never the last word
“There is the official notice and ceremony, and then the long and agonizing process that follows … Eulogies are never the last word.” That’s a quote from an article sent to me by a friend (thanks, Kathryn). In full, it’s even better: “I had nearly forgotten how death plays out over time — not the […]
Gone splashing
The GFG is on holiday. Posts will be intermittent for the next fortnight.
So it goes
Posted by Vale Have you ever thought what it is to be a King or a Queen? You are, usually, born to it: it is your life and your duty. Our own Queen clearly feels this keenly. As far as a commoner can tell, for her, the coronation oath confirmed what birth had bestowed: she […]
Fire & Water
Posted by John Porter I am an archer. I am a funeral celebrant. The last funeral I facilitated was of Thelma, my archery coach. She used to coach the British archery team many years ago. The chairman of Tonbridge Archers led the tribute and, much to everyone’s surprise (he was renowned for “going on at […]
One better than Webster
Posted by Vale ‘Webster was much possessed by death And saw the skull beneath the skin’ Today 21st century body art offers the opportunity to go one step further and actually put the skull there. It’s called a sub dermal implant and it’s what you can do when a tattoo just doesn’t go far enough. Skulls […]
