Making the best of old age
On a slow news day, I quite enjoyed this piece by Jane Miller in my favourite newspaper: Many of us have been possessed at times by thoughts that the life we are living is not the real one, but some botched job we somehow fell into, provisionally as it were, fine for the time being, […]
Habeas corpus
I was emailed last night by someone who wants to visit their dead parent at the undertaker’s. The undertaker won’t make an appointment. The client thinks the undertaker is prevaricating. The undertaker tells the client that the customary time to visit a dead person is the day before the funeral. This is not soon enough […]
From rags to riches
Whether or not funerals are too expensive depends on how much money you’ve got and how you like to spend it. Some like to say it with a Batesville casket, mountains of flowers, a fleet of vintage Bentleys, prancing horses, a military band, the Red Arrows—the sky’s the limit. If you’ve got lots of dough […]
Teen Undertaker
The media loves death and funerals — wacky music, funky coffins, all that sort of stuff. Best of all, the media loves to find people working in the funeral industry who do not conform to the common conception of deathworker as inhabitant of a dark and terrifying otherworld. Normal people; people like us. Better still, […]
Practicalities and suicide pacts
Here’s a highly recommended post over at the Exit blog: Heartache of a death not shared — a helium suicide fails. It discusses this story as reported by the Times: Early one morning in September, William Stanton heard footsteps coming up the stairs of his cottage in Somerset. He knew who it was and panicked. […]
Who we are is what we mean to others
Here are some extracts from a cheering story in the Newburyport News, Massachusetts which has set me thinking about the nature of identity and community. My father, Arthur Allen, died at the age of 63 on Aug. 2. My dad was the embodiment of compassion, duty, style and bravery. He was the guy fighting for […]
One man’s date with death
You saw the news that Christopher Hitchens has cancer? I suppose we all wonder how we would feel and conduct ourselves were the news to be broken to us, so there is something compelling about listening to and observing someone else for whom the dread summons has come. Here are some extracts from what Hitchens […]
The, er, whatchamacallit
If there’s any ordinary person worse off than yourself, you’ll find them in the problem pages of newspapers and magazines. Do you seek comfort in problem pages? A prurient frisson? An incredulous giggle? Much depends probably on the demographic catered for by the publication. The further downmarket you go, the juicier, sexier and more exotically […]
Every body
Here’s an interesting story from the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. These are some extracts: CIRENCESTER Hospital has closed its mortuary to avoid a massive refurbishment bill and awarded the service to a local funeral directors. The Tetbury Road hospital, decided to shut down its mortuary earlier this year after discovering it would need a major […]
One family’s take on the perfect funeral
The following is taken from Ben Heald’s blog and so much speaks for itself that I don’t need to add another word: Nothing can prepare you for losing close family suddenly; and I don’t want to dwell on the personal loss. What I’d like to talk about is the learning I’ve taken from the experience […]
