Goodbyes….
Thank you all for your response to last month’s letter, by the time we have gone to print all of our APCM’s will have taken place, and we will have welcomed new volunteers to keep our churches running, but we have also thanked those standing down for all their hard work and commitment, not really a goodbye, more of a change of direction.
We are also preparing to say goodbye to our curate Emma, she has now finished her training with us and has secured herself her first post of responsibility, a long way from us, but much closer to her family. She will be Priest in Charge in the Local Ministry Area of Bro Teifi in the Diocese of St Davids, with primary pastoral responsibility for the communities of Nevern, Newport and Dinas. The Archdeacon of Cardigan is aiming for Emma’s licensing to be at the end of September. We say goodbye in September and wish her well.
A more permanent goodbye is the tragic but inevitable time when a loved one dies.
I have recently had some very sad situations and conversations with family and friends who have struggled to deal with their loved one’s choice to invest in one of these national, prepaid companies, who whisk the body away to somewhere up country, cremate and then deliver the ashes back, so that…”my loved ones can remember me the way they want to, with a party, etc.” These are called “Direct Cremations” and, despite the advertising, they can be booked and prepaid with any LOCAL Funeral Director, same cost, but staying local, AND, if the family decide that they would like to add their own touch to their farewells they can add to the financial package through the local Funeral Director.
It is so very hard for family and friends who feel cheated of the chance to say goodbye their way. My funeral is planned and paid for, to save my children the “expense,” but I recognise they may wish to adapt those plans to suit their needs too.
Who is a funeral for? Ask yourselves this? Talk about this with loved ones. Talk about this with your chosen funeral director. There is no one way of saying our final goodbyes, each of us is different, and all beautiful in our own way; each of our family and friends are unique and their way of expressing their love for you will be their way.
Ignore the adverts and talk to those who matter to you, please, for their sake.
Helene
