Goodbye mum, RIP

Today was the day of mum‘s funeral. We all met at dad’s, He wanted it to be formal and traditional, mum would have too. the moment I saw the coffin in the hearse and the beautiful flowers, that was when it properly hit me, that mum is no longer with us. Arriving at the crematorium in Beetham, it was so comforting to see my best friends, Lynn and Alyn were there, along with so many old neighbors and friends of my parents. The men walked in with the coffin, Fernando by Abba, Helen, the celebrant welcomed everyone and Jasmin my niece read a beautiful poem. The slide show I prepared played to Memory, Elaine Paige, this was really beautiful, all those wonderful memories of times with mum, family and friends. A beautiful eulogy was read by Helen. The final goodbye was accompanied by Don’t Cry for me Argentina, Julie Covington. My mum loved singing, and was a huge fan of musicals, and we chose this as her passport was full of stamps from S America, Falkland Islands, etc, from a cruise they went on just after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. They did 2 amazing cruises, she really loved them, even though her memory was slowly deteriorating.
When we came out, I couldn’t speak, I just could hug all my friends and family. We had a reception at the Royal Station Hotel in Carnforth, which has recently been renovated. The photo boards and albums gave us lots to talk about, the food was really nice, and there was a really nice happy atmosphere.
A few hours later, we left for my brother’s house, where we carried on a bit longer with close family and friends. It was a day filled with terrible sadness, but also a lot of happiness and optimism. My dad is still really well, has lots of close friends and family around him.
This is back blipped, I’m a bit behind.