Pen's Nest

We had FIL's memorial today.

Our children, BIL, and FIL's sister J, her husband K, and their daughter L, plus Beast and me, were the only ones in attendance. Everyone arrived within twenty minutes of each other, and we had lunch: roast pork (FIL's favourite) with roast potatoes, roasted carrots, red cabbage, and some of FIL's frozen beans, plus gravy and apple sauce. Then lemon cheesecake.

The actual ceremony took place after lunch. Beast introduced the subject by talking about how and why his father came to live with us, then we went round the group asking for each person to contribute something. It was really nice. There were all sorts of stories, funny, tragic, heartfelt, trivial, and lots of stuff which was new to many of us. Then we went outside, and one by one J, BIL, Beast, Bun and Boy emptied a glass of ashes onto the base of one of the five fruit trees which FIL planted when we decided he was to live here.

Then we had a nice cup of tea and chatted some more.

It was a nice day. I really liked our little ceremony, and I'd recommend it. We didn't have to use the timetable set by the availability of the crematorium, and without an officiant or order of service, it was very personal. It does take a lot of points of view to speak the truth of who a person was, I think, and this showed all of us something we hadn't known before.

So. That's done.

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We now have furniture in all the wrong places, and my future craft room is laden with my Stuff that has to be found homes in there. But tomorrow, it will be naming of parts checking as best I can the centimetre-thick stack of forms to be sent to the HMRC on Monday. Oh, joy.