Celebrating Life....

Today has been a day of very mixed emotions....

It started off with a muted but lovely opening of presents for Ruby's 11th birthday, she had waited so patiently while we all sorted ourselves out for the day ahead.

Then, before we could really celebrate with her, all thoughts changed to the matter of Great Granny's Funeral.

Sat in Great Grampy's house before church, it was reassuring to see so much normality, sons and cousins, brothers, sisters, grandchildren and grand great grandchildren milling around, chatting, eating biscuits, a cat curled up on a kitchen chair....no different to when Great Granny was still with us.

The church and the graveside were of course much more emotionally demanding, one of the hardest things for me was to see everyone else so upset. Sarah her sister Catherine and her cousins Eve read some beautiful poems. Another cousin Ian gave a very moving Tribute to Great Granny's life....

....the church was full to the rafters, voices rang out and it was uplifting....

....and at the graveside we said our goodbyes amidst a host of beautiful floral tributes.

But we all wanted to remember that today was not just a day of sadness and goodbyes, it was a day to celebrate 'Life'....

On the day we marked the passing of a remarkable lady, who had lived hers fully, it was also a day to propel Ruby on in the next and probably most exciting phase of her life; onto secondary school and all the adventures that lie ahead.

So we all had a party :):):)

xx