To Barrow Again

Today is Robert's funeral and I'll be driving up to Barrow-in-Furness this morning with my mother.

The last funeral that I went to in Barrow was Nancy's.

She was a warm, large, lovely woman, the mother of Dorothy who made Emily and Gareth's wedding cake.

She died age 86 so although it was very sad, it wasn't a tragedy and the family had a big, wonderful party to celebrate her life. It was great to see people whom I hadn't seen for years, especially those who'd grown up since I last saw them. ("Hey! I'll always remember your wedding - do you remember that thing they did with the melon?")

Robert's death, at forty-seven, with a wife, two daughters - the younger age fifteen - and a toddler granddaughter - is a tragedy. But I expect we'll have the party in celebration of his life anyway.

It will be great to see everyone - especially since, of course, they couldn't come to Emily and Gareth's wedding because of Robert's illness.

But I'm dreading the funeral itself.