A Sad Day, and an Odd Resolution.

 

 

 

 

Monday was the day we buried my friend Margaret. The funeral was in Lancashire and it's a long way from Orkney but she had been a friend for over twenty years and we couldn't not go. It was a rather more upsetting experience than I had bargained for to be honest, but I was still pleased I went.

 

All the way through the service I could smell something beautiful, without knowing what it was, but when I turned around at the last, I saw this vase of sweet peas right behind me and realised it must have been them.

 

Difficult though the day was it would have been much worse without the support of others in the same situation. Here's a picture of the small group of friends, of which Margaret was such an integral part, minus one who sadly couldn't attend We're putting on smiles because we're altogether and who knows when that will happen again, but we were all conscious of the fact that one of us has gone and is never coming back.

 

 

As for the resolution, it's not to be buried in a wicker coffin. Margaret had one, which is all of a piece with the sort of caring thoughtful person that she was. I'd never actually seen one before Monday, and thought they were a good idea until then. I'm afraid they look rather too much like picnic baskets for me to be comfortable about ending up in one. I know I'll end up as food for worms, but I feel I don't actually have to be delivered up to  them in  a hamper.