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So, we had a good drive down to Bath, 5 hours door to door just about. Nice hotel, of which more in a separate post maybe.
Over to Keynsham on Tuesday, nobody at the flat or the hall round the corner. Let a little old lady who was clearly heading for the funeral keep warm in our car until her lift arrived. At 1 we realised the cortege wasn't leaving from Mum's old flat after all - if I'd told my sister which hotel we were in, or remembered to bring her phone number, or had given her mine... Anyway, it meant I didn't have lots of free brain to get miserable with, and we set off for the crematorium.
We got there just ahead of the hearse, and were parked and waiting at the door when they pulled up, so it was all fine. My aunt Olive didn't recognise me at first - not used to seeing me in a suit, or with a decent haircut!
The service was pretty good - All Things Bright And Beautiful & Guide Me Oh Thou Great Redeemer, and Steph(niece2) managed to read a nice poem. And I learned something: mum & dad met after swapping letters after she'd sent some knitting out to the troops. Jack was well-behaved and just enough distraction to stop me collapsing completely into my grief.
Afterwards we followed niece1's father-in-law to the wake. There was a drinkdrive spotcheck at one point that nearly split us up, which was quite funny. The whole clan was there and it's unusual to see them all in one go, this kind of thing is the only time it happens nowadays. I hadn't seen some of them for years. My mum's sisters told L lots of stories about me as a child, of course... Had a quick chat with my sis about the will, which is nice and simple.
Then back to the hotel, and next day back here - another good drive, about 5 hours again which isn't bad considering the time we queued to get into Bath itself to find petrol. We did see a few acciddents on our way up though, including something Kia-sized on its roof, and a rear-ending that must have happened less than 2 minutes before we arrived on that stretch of tarmac, luckily there was hard shoulder outside the righthand lane there or it could have been a lot dodgier for everybody. All the way up there'd been signs saying the M62 was closed between the M6 and the M60 so we went in on the 56 and round, and it was fine. Couldn't get into the garage when we got home though, due to the snow.
Smogg was pleased to see us, and we were pleased to see him.
Every now and then I think of my mum and get a bit tearful, and I know from when my dad went that this will last a while, but I think she went at the right time for her, really, in the end.
She was still all there mentally but her legs were just about done and she was beginning to worry about nighttime continence and the possibility of having to go into a home instead of her flat in the sheltered housing, where she was still pretty independent.
Bye mum
Over to Keynsham on Tuesday, nobody at the flat or the hall round the corner. Let a little old lady who was clearly heading for the funeral keep warm in our car until her lift arrived. At 1 we realised the cortege wasn't leaving from Mum's old flat after all - if I'd told my sister which hotel we were in, or remembered to bring her phone number, or had given her mine... Anyway, it meant I didn't have lots of free brain to get miserable with, and we set off for the crematorium.
We got there just ahead of the hearse, and were parked and waiting at the door when they pulled up, so it was all fine. My aunt Olive didn't recognise me at first - not used to seeing me in a suit, or with a decent haircut!
The service was pretty good - All Things Bright And Beautiful & Guide Me Oh Thou Great Redeemer, and Steph(niece2) managed to read a nice poem. And I learned something: mum & dad met after swapping letters after she'd sent some knitting out to the troops. Jack was well-behaved and just enough distraction to stop me collapsing completely into my grief.
Afterwards we followed niece1's father-in-law to the wake. There was a drinkdrive spotcheck at one point that nearly split us up, which was quite funny. The whole clan was there and it's unusual to see them all in one go, this kind of thing is the only time it happens nowadays. I hadn't seen some of them for years. My mum's sisters told L lots of stories about me as a child, of course... Had a quick chat with my sis about the will, which is nice and simple.
Then back to the hotel, and next day back here - another good drive, about 5 hours again which isn't bad considering the time we queued to get into Bath itself to find petrol. We did see a few acciddents on our way up though, including something Kia-sized on its roof, and a rear-ending that must have happened less than 2 minutes before we arrived on that stretch of tarmac, luckily there was hard shoulder outside the righthand lane there or it could have been a lot dodgier for everybody. All the way up there'd been signs saying the M62 was closed between the M6 and the M60 so we went in on the 56 and round, and it was fine. Couldn't get into the garage when we got home though, due to the snow.
Smogg was pleased to see us, and we were pleased to see him.
Every now and then I think of my mum and get a bit tearful, and I know from when my dad went that this will last a while, but I think she went at the right time for her, really, in the end.
She was still all there mentally but her legs were just about done and she was beginning to worry about nighttime continence and the possibility of having to go into a home instead of her flat in the sheltered housing, where she was still pretty independent.
Bye mum
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