Today has been a day of varying fortune. I trimmed my beard on Tuesday night and shaved my head last night. I should really have done it sooner but I hate doing it. There are always a lot of little wisps to tidy up. However, it does look neat and, as haircuts go, it lasts a long time. I will probably touch it up with a razor for the next funeral but after that I could easily leave it a year without needing to do anything to it. This morning I smoothed the beard off and was, in terms of personal grooming, good to go.
Jacket, tie, new white shirt, bag of poetry mags and a notebook and some oranges and I was ready. After dropping Julia off at work I turned for Newark and the North. At that point I noted that my new route, avoiding the morning rush in Nottingham, was going to be a little longer than I had planned for and half an hour was sliced from my time calculation. There were roadworks on the way, I got stuck behind a wide load and I needed to stop at Wetherby services (not my favourite) as the length of the journey had outlasted my bladder capacity. That all left my planned 1½ hour cushion looking rather depleted, as it had gradually shrunk to 20 minutes.
At that pint the sat nav sent me the wrong way in Knaresborough and by the time i had corrected that mistake I managed to park and beat the coffin to the church by about thirty seconds, putting my tie on as I reached the pew.
It was quite an uplifting service and a crowded church, which is always good. I met a number of cousins I hadn’t seen for years. One of them now lives in Northampton, which will be quite close once I move to Peterborough. I don’t know if you remember the picture of the three little girls with parents in 1915, I did use it in a previous post, well we are the children and grandchildren of the three little girls.
My great grandfather and mother and grandmother and two great aunts.
The children of the great aunts (I met three today) are my first cousins once removed, and their children (I met two today) are my second cousins. I never really knew, just referred to them as cousins, but I thought I should look it up for blogging purposes. I’ve been very fortunate with my family as I’ve never met one I didn’t like, even after gaps of decades.
Another snippet about the day -I got stuck in roadworks on the way back, then behind a wide load again. And, struck by inspiration, I found another black tie when I sat in the car this morning. A little voice said “look in the glove compartment” so I did, and I found my other funeral tie.
For an eventful and possibly gloomy day, it seems to have turned out not to be too bad. In his last days, my dad always said that the only time that he went out was for funerals.
I’m beginning to understand that, and I’m also wondering who is next, and if any of the others are thinking about me in the same way. 🙂
Such an eventful day
Certainly was. 🙂
It had its moments. 🙂
Old photos are a form of time travel, a look at life back then to go along with the stories handed down, and questions that can’t be asked. Glad you got out and back alright, an enjoyed time with family, even under these circumstances.
It was, on balance, a pleasant day. We are all going to die at some time so there is no point being miserable about it when it comes at the ened of a life well lived. Even if 77 years isn’t a great length.
So are rewarding day in many ways. Well done that man
Funerals, as an 80-year-old friend once told me, are an important part of his social life, along with the bowls club and trips to hospital. This was ten years ago, and I now appreciate his words. Funerals, blood tests and blogging are my mainstays. 🙂