The day of my Mum Grace Broad's funeral which was very well attended by friends and family; aided by the coach I had laid on, and the wake went well too. The Rev Peter Lewis and Churchwardens of St James Church did us proud.
The weather was misty and dull, but the wind was slight and the rain held off until after the service and burial. I found the day quite tiring but then I was called early by Diana and took the dog on a particularly exhausting walk so that he would not get restless during the day and start barking at the visitors. Diana's family arrived around 10.30am and did the catering as the coach soon followed. On board were Freda, Alf and Jane Butterfield, Ivy and Arthur Barrett with Keith. Colin and June and then Fred and Marie Thomas and a lot of people from Shepherds Grove Park. Some former colleagues of Dad also arrived early; Harry with whom he had worked as a partner for fifteen years brought by Derek who Dad had introduced to the job.
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We served these early arrivals tea and biscuits and then set off once the hearse arrived. In the cortege, we used the six-seater limousine for Freda, Alf and family, leaving space in the coach for Di's family to get a lift so being able to leave their cars at The Hayling View. The Rolls Royce ran well and looked the part for us and accommodated Daniel and the three girls in the back despite their growing size. We all followed the coffin into the church, where it was placed on trestles by the pall-bearers of the funeral firm. St James Church had its experienced and talented organist and two churchwardens on duty to help us and they had to distribute more service sheets and open up the left-hand aisle for the fifty or so seats needed.
The Rev Peter Lewis, aided by our briefing and the specially printed order of service, delivered a very good address, summarising Mum's life and praising the help of her friends and neighbours in her hour of need. The hymn, "The day thou gavest, Lord, has ended" was sung particularly well to bring the service to an end. The procession of vehicles to Little Paxton Cemetery was simplified using the coach and the large number of wreaths and floral tributes were laid out along the path. The graveside committal was brief and, after Mum's coffin was lowered into the grave, the funeral director scattered the soil onto the coffin as Peter read the words, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". He joined us with the others for quite a long gathering afterwards at the house.
Plenty of food was eaten, the conservatory and fish got their share of admiration, and there was time for a long chat between meeting relatives and friends as Mum was remembered and seen off in style. I took Sam for another long walk afterwards and later drove back up to the grave to see it had been filled in and the mound covered with the beautiful flowers. It was raining later and rather cool throughout, but the day was a good one and the funeral judged a great success.