Farewell

It was strange, allowing the alarm to wake me.  I had an early start. After tea and a slice of toast, I headed onto the King's Highways for the drive up to Bushey. Traffic was fairly kind as I headed for the A3 and up to the M25. The last 2 miles before that junction, however, took 25 minutes. What a good job I had allowed plenty of time.

I was one of the first to arrive at the church but was soon followed by Simon, Marie-Claire, Mary Louise and Margaret. Over the next 30 minutes, more and more of the family started to gather. It was so nice to see so many cousins. We so rarely get the chance to meet up - and a funeral, though a catalyst for such meetings, hardly seems the perfect gathering.

We were there to say our farewells to Angela, my Dad's younger sister. She was a wonderful lady. As she was finishing school in the late 1940s, Angela’s hopes of going to university were put on hold when her headmistress asked her to take over the teaching of Mathematics, and so began her career as a teacher. She was a musician, both singing and playing piano and violin. She became a member of the Royal Choral Society. Years later, after retirement, she joined the Watford Philharmonic Chorus, with which she stayed until her early 80s. She married Peter, a widower with one son, Bernard. They went on to have 7 more sons.

Angela was such an important part of my young life. After my own parents died, she just absorbed me and my sister into the family when it came to holidays and events. I loved her with a passion and will never forget her love and kindness. She is a new star in the firmament and will always light my life.

We had a full Requiem Mass, conducted by their local Parish Priest and concelebrated by our cousin - Fr. Phil Law. It was a lovely service.

The committal was held at the cemetery in Elstree and as we left the graveside, we had the traditional trip/fall when Angela's sister-in-law was tipped out of her wheelchair onto the path as we approached the cars. (Someone always seems to trip or fall at our funerals - the most serious of these was when my grandfather nearly fell into the grave when we buried my grandmother.

We returned to the church hall for the Wake/Reception. They had put on a wonderful buffet and there was plenty to drink. (Being such a hot day, that was a must). We mixed and mingled with Angela's boys, their children,  and their children's children. We also met up with other cousins who we rarely see. I left as it approached 3 o'clock. I must conclude that our family lays on great funerals!

Back on the road, Google saved the day. It warned me of an accident blocking the M25 just where I wanted to join the A3. It re-routed me down the M3 and across the country. Traffic Reports on the radio revealed that the delay on the M25 had I remained on that route, was 90 minutes. Good old Google!

I was very weary when I got home. I am clearly out of the habit of driving for 5 or 6 hours in the day and I was very grateful to get home and sit down.