This week brings the reminder of where I was on the 17th of January 2023. I was attending my beloved mother’s funeral, it was a very cold bitter winters day, as the temperature was -7 in West London. My wife and I had stayed at a local hotel and defrosting the car was a mammoth task, as all I wanted to do was get to my parents’ home as soon as possible.
I remember standing inside my parents’ home as we gathered with family, friends….in the front room…. with everybody chit chatting quietly… and then the cortege of the hearse and funeral car arrived sliding into position in the road so gracefully.
In slow motion everyone was now ending their conversations and looking out of the window. Like synchronized divers standing on top of the 10 meters board looking to complete their next dive……the silence of the crowd awaiting the splash and what routine would these amazing athletes be performing. This beloved mother had completed all of her front foot dives, summersaults, back flips, and had certainly made a big splash with her amazing life.
I was asked by my sister to go and take a photo of my mother to stand in the back of the hurst. I stepped outside to speak to the funeral director who asked me a few questions about my mother, how thoughtful I thought, before I handed him over the photo.
It was a bazar feeling handing over a photo of my mother and at the same time realising that her body was in the hurst in front of me. A journey that I’ve never ever been on before……
The funeral was a truly fitting tribute to her, the readings, address, music, wake, all going without any hitches.
My brother-in-law, nephew, close friend, and I carried her into the crematorium, with Nigel Kennedy and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Rattle playing ‘The Lark Ascending’, by Vaughan Williams, (this quant essential English composer) echoing through the crematorium out into the English countryside.
Joan Abbott the proudest Englishperson would have been in her element.
We had made the right choices for her funeral, right choices that I once made regarding my recovery from burnout, which you can find out more by reading my book called:
Burn Out “My Story From Burn Out To Recovery”. Available on Amazon