Everyday Life: Saying our Goodbyes

Today my daughter and I went to say goodbye to an old friend who died in February. On the way, we drove through snow, hail, wind and rain before the sun came out. We went early so that we could have lunch before the service. We knew there was a Little Chef nearby, but then we passed the Elme Hall Hotel, which obviously looked and was, much better than a motorway services café. We had not been there before, but it was an excellent lunch, with clean white tablecloths in lovely surroundings.

After the service, we did not stay for the wake; the family had gone to the Crematorium and would be away for quite a while. We watched, from the church gates as Doreen was driven away and a few more flakes of snow fell. Then we had a quick cup of coffee where the wake was to be held, opposite the church, before going to the nearby cemetery to visit my parents and my maternal granddad’s grave. Then we drove through the village and past the houses where I had lived for forty years before marrying Bill. I took a couple of pictures, through the car windscreen, of the Water Tower and the Clock Tower and as I could not choose between them for my blip, I decided instead to blip Nicola with her coffee.

Despite going to a funeral, Nicola looks happy, funerals are usually sad occasions and this one was no exception. Doreen was an old lady who had spent her entire life caring for other people. She left school early to take care of her father and eight siblings; in later life, as well as caring for her husband and two children, she cared for her mother and mother-in-law. All this while working on a smallholding with her husband. Later still she cared for her husband, for many years prior to his death; he died in 2010. Two years later this wonderful old lady had a stroke and needed to be cared for. She will be greatly missed, not just by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but by everyone who knew her.

Berenice Doreen Stannard – 28 January 1927 – 8 February 2015