As the year is coming to a close, and Christmas is almost upon us, my thoughts have turned to all the families I have had the joy of meeting and working with this year, as well as sharing in their sorrow. For these families, Christmas cannot and will not be the same as it was before their loss. Christmas is a time of families coming together and being together. It’s a time of creating memories, sharing stories and laughter as well as remembering those who cannot be with us. The real meaning and magic of Christmas is still there, if we take the time to look beyond the hype and commercialism. As Scrooge says in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol “I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the past, the present and the future.”
I would like to say, quite simply, “thank you” to all the amazing funeral arrangers and directors I’ve worked with this year, the chapel attendants and behind the scenes staff – all of whom have been so helpful and supportive. But most of all, I’d like to thank the families I’ve worked with for sharing so much of their loved ones with me, for the stories, the anecdotes, the photos, the endless cups of tea, the biscuits and jam tarts, the laughter and the tears. They, and their loved ones, are not forgotten.
On Christmas Eve, I will light a candle for all those families I’ve worked with who are facing their first Christmas without their loved one at the table and sit quietly sending them love and light, peace and comfort.
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” Rabindranath Tagore