IT'S WEDNESDAY AGAIN SO IT MUST BE.....

.....Girls About Town!

Mr. HCB didn’t leave for cricket until a bit later this morning, so was able to give me a lift over to the Radio Station for the Girls About Town programme, which as  you know, starts at 10.00 a.m.  Our Guest this morning was Sue Holden, who is a Civil Celebrant for funerals and is also a Grief Recovery Specialist.  It was interesting listening to Sue, and we all agreed, that many people do not want to think about death, particularly their own and there is definitely a taboo in this country to even talk about death - many preferring to use euphemisms rather than saying that someone had “died”.

Having been to a Christian funeral/Celebration of Life service recently, I was very interested to hear that what Sue does as a Civil Celebrant is also to celebrate the life of the person who has died, but according either to their own wishes, made known before they died, or according to the wishes of the family.  

Sue told us that they might even have hymns at the service because a particular hymn might have memories for the deceased person and the family.  She said she also includes in the service a part where people can be quiet and have their own thoughts about the person or even pray, if that is their custom and the cross is not covered if the service takes place in a crematorium where there is often a visible cross on the wall.  Actually different from what I thought a Civil Celebrant was and very interesting too.

Sue was very articulate and obviously a compassionate lady, who not only led funerals, but was also involved in grief recovery work after the funeral, if people wished to contact her.  She said that loss is not only when someone is bereaved, but could also be part of someone’s life when children left home to go to university, when a couple are divorced and even when someone has a miscarriage or fails to become pregnant and has issues with that.  

A Death Café was something else that Sue was involved with which sounds bizarre, but it is intended for those who want to talk to others about death in any form and this meets once a month in the foyer of a local hotel.

A very interesting morning for the first hour (and if you want to hear the programme, then you can listen again from 10 p.m. until midnight UK time, tomorrow, Thursday, here) then we enjoyed cakes sent for us by Lyn and Sue from the Ridge Coffee Club and you can see these at the top right - the icing even matches the Radio Station colours - how good is that?  The three of us chatted about various other things, interspersed with music as usual - and before we knew it, the second hour had gone!

I had to walk home because of course, Mr. HCB had the car, so I decided it might be a good idea to take some shots on my way home - in the rain!  The main shot in my collage is the four of us this morning and then various photographs in gardens on my way home.  The top middle shot is of the building where the studios are, and seeing the sign on the wall, you can understand why I always put a turquoise background round my collage.  I rather liked the pink poppies in the middle right and may even have to go back and see if I can “snaffle” a few seed heads.  It's obvious that roses grow very well in this area, but further round the corner, and I think it is probably the same garden, all along quite a high wall were about six plants that looked very healthy, at the bottom right - I wonder if the owners of the garden know that these are weeds?  

“Death is not the greatest loss in life;
     the greatest loss is 
          what dies inside us
               while we live.”
Norman Cousins

P.S.  Mr. HCB has just rung to say he is on his way home - just after 2 p.m. - with no cricket today because of the rain - oh dear, he will not be happy!