The family

Let me share a little about me. I was born in the mid 1950s. I was 4th child of 6 and the only girl. My dad had one sister, my mum was an only child. My parents died in 2008 and 2009 and my aunt died on Christmas Eve. So Auntie Lucy's funeral had something of the end of an era feel about it.
It was a really fitting event, a very few tears, a great many smiles and some laughter. It was lovely to have 3 of my surviving 4 brothers there, one of my daughters, niece and nephew, cousins and their children and grandchildren.
The challenge now is to find ways and reasons to gather from our corners of the country and the world to keep all our positive relationships real.
This is my eldest brother Tom's watch chain. Originally it belonged to my dads's Uncle Jack - I can tell you about him later. It passed to my grandad then my dad and then Tom. Each of the old medallions is engraved with the former owner's initials. The modern one was commissioned by Tom's late wife Della. Lots of love and loss caught up in an old object.
A long drive home from Portsmouth which my arm liked not one bit, but so glad to have given Lucy a good send off.