I'm a funeral celebrant based in Brighton.
I've spent my working life as a writer and performer for stage and screen and have written several children's books. As my own children grew up I felt the need for some human contact that didn't involve frying fish fish fingers or arguing about cheese, so I applied to train as a listening volunteer with the Samaritans. I loved it and, after over ten years, I still do. Listening while a stranger pours their story into your ear feels like the most intense and meaningful human connection possible.
And now, as a funeral celebrant with Humanists UK, I've found a role that brings together all my skills, interests and experience...
I believe that a good funeral is as much about the living as the person who has died. It can be formal or informal, simple or flamboyant; there can be music, poetry, photos and flowers; stories, anecdotes, laughter as well as tears. There can be peace and silence; time for reflection and space to think.
But most of all there will be memories.
Sad, happy, funny, meaningful memories that celebrate the person's life and enable their friends and family members to come together not just to say goodbye but to support each other by sharing their feelings; to cry, to smile, to laugh, to nod in recognition.
To remember.
Every funeral ceremony will be as unique as the person who has died, but every good funeral has one thing in common:
'...you must take from it the hope, love and courage that other people give you in what they thought about your loved one.'
(Michael Rosen)
Out of sight need never be out of mind...
