My cousin's funeral today. It's been a beautiful though cold day. The funeral parlour is at the top of a hill and from it there was a wonderful view of the snow-capped Beacons (or possibly Black Mountains - my geography isn't up to much.) My suggestion to Husband that we should "get up there" was met by a "Not likely."
Fortunately inside it was warm, peaceful and rather lovely. A newly-built facility I think and very well-designed. And unlike the last funeral parlour I had cause to visit it didn't smell funny so win win.
It was a simple service as requested by her husband who didn't want anything fancy. The vicar taking the service was very nice despite his terribly limp handshake. After he'd read the story of Olive's/June's life he called me up to do my bit.
I shared some memories and then prayed. I didn't remember every detail I'd planned to say but it was okay. In fact it was a, "Stunning tribute," and "Really wonderful prayer." From daughter of cousin and the vicar. (See why I liked him?)
So I did my godmother proud.
Instead of a traditional wake or after-funeral buffet, we met at Verdi's for tea and cakes, and had a good old natter about family and the 'old days'. Carol, another cousin, came with us. She is one of the last remaining from the generation before me, although the lines are very blurry because of large families. So many of my little age band cousins have died that soon I will be the only 'old' one left.
On that cheery note I'll leave you and go away and bask in the glory of praise. (For a change.)
Oh yes, Olive/June. I'm sure I have told the story here of visiting my cousin June to find her referring to herself as Olive. It's true she was christened Olive June but throughout my growing-up and until recently she was June to everyone. No-one quite knows why she changed but it was her prerogative. I can't safely say there is no chance of me suddenly deciding to be known as Devonald, my middle name.
7 comments:
Nice to have a choice of names, though a bit confusing to outsiders. I had an assistant whose name was Lucille, which she hated, so she started using her middle name, Anne. I agreed to lead the charge at work to help get everyone on board. Some people are unwilling to change though. She did eventually succeed.
Olive June sounds like maybe two grandparents, because the names don't flow together. Good for her for choosing.
You seem to come in for a lot of funeral speaking.
Glad the funeral was nice and your contribution was well received. For smaller funerals, I think going to a restaurant with the attendees afterwards is the way to go. I did that for both my parents' funerals. And quite frankly, picking up the restaurant bill is no more expensive than having a catered lunch and certainly easier than trying to do it myself, which many people still do but I would not.
Liz:
I like that your relative is switching up her name choices a bit. I also very much like Olive as a name.
However…. I have an off topic question to pose to you that is about English (British) grammar. Below, I will paste a few lines of a BBC story I was reading. Please examine the quotation marks. There are multiple instances where the end quotation mark is absent, and then some times where it is present. With it being the BBC I have to presume it is legitimately correct….. but from my US perspective, we always have a quotation mark at the beginning and at the end of something spoken.
Would you be able to explain this rule to me?
(Note…. out of worry the pasted quote might cause the comment to crash, I will insert it in the next comment.)
PipeTobacco
Hmm. The “paste” feature does not work on the comments it seems.
I'm getting quite good at funeral speaking now, Boud! Unfortunately.
Thanks Debra. It was certainly a very informal and friendly get-together and quite appropriate.
Liz:
Yes, exactly! What you posted on my blog is exactly what I meant.
To my eye it looks very odd. Is it a BBC thing? Or is it perhaps a standard style in British English I did not know about?
PipeTobacco
It's standard I believe, PipeTobacco. I didn't discover it until a few years ago and it does seem odd.
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