Saying Goodbye

15th September
Dom didn't want a funeral so we found a different way to say goodbye. 
We got up early this morning and went into the quarry, Dom's favourite place. Just us, my mum and dad, and the dogs. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A misty sunrise. Magical.
We set up a little cairn on the wall where he would always stop and sit. The photo is him and Monty sitting in almost exactly the same spot when he was about eleven or twelve. The sunflowers are the ones I bought in Watford yesterday. Where he was born.
Miss E scrambled up the slate and built her own little cairn higher up. The sheep were very curious!
We had Pimms and Whitby buns and at 8am, the time of his cremation, we raised a glass to him. It was so sad but so beautiful. 
I had been dreading it a bit - wondering what we were going to do, how long we could decently stay before heading off - but it was really lovely and we were there for hours just soaking it all up. Drinking more Pimms and eating more Whitby buns. And macarons! 
It would have been better if Dom had been with us of course!!
We walked up the quarry a bit which was lovely. Once the mist had cleared the views were spectacular.
We got to Miss E's tree - she looks a bit different now (see extras)
We spent the afternoon in his house and garden. It was a bit overwhelming going into the house. It was like he had just popped out.
The Little Misses spent hours in the river building a spectacular dam. Archie was in heaven. He does love a river!!
Me and mum drank lots more Pimms. With the best view in the world (see extras) We were so incredibly lucky with such a beautiful sunny gorgeous day.  
In the afternoon Mr K and I drove into Llanrwst to the undertakers to pick up the flowers. It was lovely to meet Mr R the undertaker. What a special man. He showed us the chapel of rest where Dom had been. Told us how beautiful Dom's last journey had been  - they'd driven down Nant Ffrancon to Caernarfon and he said the mist and the clouds and the sun had been magical. He knew how Dom loved it and wanted Mum to know how special it was. What an amazing job to do, making something so awful a bit better.
Dom had clearly been in very special hands.
In Watford yesterday I bought all the ingredients for rumless mojitos for the Little Misses. They made them when we got back - I even remembered the pestle and mortar for the ice and mint! They were delicious!! Uncle Dom loved the photos of them drinking them on the cruise and he'd have loved seeing them make them. In a few years no doubt he'd have slipped in some rum!
We stayed so much later than I thought we would. It was hard to leave. 
We went back to the quarry to say goodbye and then headed off at about 7pm for a painless journey home.
So all in all it was a pretty special day. Hard to feel sad when there's so much joy up there.

Sleep tight Dom x