Getting to Friday
I never expected when we came to handle my Dad’s affairs that we would laugh so much. It’s not that we’re happy he died; on the contrary, I find the whole situation quite sad. But there is something about being three brothers together on a common mission that brings energy even as the tasks drain. And if it’s done right, the energy is enough to replenish the energy that’s being lost.
So we’re laughing, and that has been good for the soul. And I’m rediscovering the joy of hanging out with my brothers.
We’ve run into many obstacles, mainly to do with bureaucracy and the fact that things take a lot longer to do here. Funerals usually take a week or longer to arrange in England, and we’re trying to do it within four days of our arrival. To register the death with the government, for instance, you have to make an appointment which sometimes takes a week, and you can’t hold the funeral until then. But we got an appointment, not just with the registrar but with the crematorium, which is another small miracle.
So on Friday at 10:00 a.m. Greenwich time, we’ll hold a very short service and Dad will be cremated. Later, we’ll hold a simple service with the rest of our immediate family back home.
There’s still lots that could go wrong – too many balls still up in the air – but I’d appreciate your prayers that all of this happens on time, before our flight back home on Saturday.