“It was like you’d known him all your life.”
We are all different. In my time as a funeral celebrant, I have been reminded just how distinctive and varied people’s lives are- their beliefs, the things they’ve done, the little character quirks- as told to me by family and friends in the meetings I have with them.
These meetings are usually in those dizzying few days or weeks after the loss of a loved one; a time when those who grieve often feel like the world has suddenly shifted from under them. It’s a hard time, in some cases a bewildering time; I’ve been there myself.
In the days and weeks after the death of a loved one, there is much to be done, and precious little of it that contains any comfort. The circumstances of the death might have been anticipated and planned for, or the death may have been unexpected, traumatic to come to terms with. In any case we are left with the task of ‘what happens next?’
It is my deep belief, and the reason that I became a celebrant, that while a ‘good’ funeral will not take away a sense of grief and loss, it can be hugely helpful in coming to terms with it. Feeling like a person has been truthfully and accurately remembered, celebrated, mourned, gets us closer to a sense of doing their memory justice. This is true for a funeral with a handful of people, or a crowd that can barely fit inside the auditorium.
I have a passion for celebrating a life in all its complexity and a talent for finding the words that make each and every funeral that I conduct, unique and fitting to that person. I regard myself as compassionate - I want to help. So I put in long hours on every funeral ceremony I conduct, to make sure loved ones are given a fitting tribute.
Click on the testimonials link to see what people have said about the funerals I’ve conducted.
