Where beauty softens grief
I’m indebted to Pam Vetter for pointing me to an article about post-mortem cosmetic procedures. This is not a big issue in the UK as it is in the US (Pam lives in LA), but it goes on here all the same. Funeral directors earn gratitude for presenting bodies looking as if they quite like […]
The truth, the half truth and nothing of the truth
The dead man’s father, a Jehovah’s Witness, had been estranged from his funny, funloving, humanist son for years. Now that his boy was dead, he wanted to reclaim him and give him a proper Jehovah’s Witness funeral. We talked about this, the dead man’s widow and I; we explored compromises. We wanted to include the […]
Stinker
I’ve blogged about Direct Funeral Services in the past, and it’s worth doing again. He’s still at it, that nice Mr Sage. He’s a blagger, the sort who ought to be horsewhipped. See the recent BBC Watchdog report here. I’ve had a number of emails from his victims. Be warned.
Helluva guy
“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below…”Thus wicked King Claudius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He was speaking of his own spiritual quandary, but in many burial grounds the memorials possibly feel he speaks for them, too. I’m not thinking of those blameless, plain stones whose simple inscriptions testify to sincere, humble faith and assert the […]
