Family

After a fine breakfast at the Lion and Swan, we made our way over to the United Reformed Church on Antrobus Street. There the singers rehearsed, and we waited for the two family groups to arrive. In the meantime, I chatted with a few of Mum's friends that I remember from my boyhood, but hadn't seen since then. The Sheffield family was on time, but there was no sign of the Derbyshire family so, after waiting 15 minutes, we started without them. Thankfully they soon arrived, as one was Mum's sister. The singing of L (Eriskay Love Lilt), the Choral Society (Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus) and even the hymns, all with organ accompaniment from the Choral Society director who knew Mum well, was great. So we gave Mum a send-off that went down very well.

The decision not to have a crematorium service meant that everyone could go downstairs in the church for refreshments and chat. This gave me a chance to talk to more people, notably the family members whom I've not seen since Dad's funeral four years ago.