Memory Lane

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."
Norman Cousins

A day to say goodbye to A, as K1 and I travel to her funeral in Hereford.  It's about an hour and a quarter drive and hot, so I'm driving in a tee shirt and shorts, with a change of clothes in the back for the service.  Arriving in plenty of time we head for a little tea shop and florist in the grounds of the crematorium.  Lovely place and very friendly/chatty staff make us welcome, and it's a good place to change in time for the service [in the toilet, not the tea shop].  After the service the road to Dilwyn is well travelled - in his later years I'd take Dad to visit his sisters and families.  As we pass familiar landmarks I can still hear Dad telling me the stories about the area, like where he got stuck in the snow with J on a winter visit.  The heaviness of saying goodbye to them for now is lightened by the recollections of years gone by; tables full with treats for tea, fruit and vegetables from the garden - yes, memories of being well fed are very strong indeed.  The church is full, with family and villagers all there to say their goodbyes.  It's a real picture postcard village, and at its' centre is the Crown, where we all converge to remember A and share the family memories.  The hours quickly pass in lively chatter over drinks and a veritable banquet of food laid on for us all.  Plenty to talk about and it's really good to reconnect with the larger family, including some I haven't met before and others I've only recently met after years adrift.  With promises to visit again soon we take our leave for the drive home, through the hills of mid-Wales past Talgarth, where Dad and his father played football many years ago.