A New Dawn

On Wednesday before a large congregation in a small and rather obscure church we held a funeral service for my mum. I think we were all stunned that so many people came along. We had music from the Choral Society mum had sung with for years. After we had private cremation followed by a lively wake at a local hotel.

So it is done. All 3 of us played a role in the service. My sister did a reading, my dad led the prayers and I delivered a eulogy. Unusually for me I wrote out what I intended to say first as I thought if the occasion became too much I would need a substitute. But I got though it. The part that I enjoyed the most was the reference to my mum's belief in the role of women in the church. If any of you follow such things it is an issue which has split the church. I look forward to the day when my old Cambridge friend Lucy Winkett becomes the first female bishop in Great Britain. Sadly mum never lived to celebrate that victory for women with me. Mum may have been many things in life but fundamentally she was a staunch advocate of the rights of women.

Who knows what the future will hold? For now we live day by day. There is no other way to look at it. I'm now back at home writing and cooking. I completed chapter 44 today and am now marinading some Indonesian kebabs for my dinner-I've never done them before. The end is now in sight on "Charon's Ferry"-I hope but doubt it will have the same impact as "A Pillar of Impotence" did.

I return to work on Monday. Hopefully it will be quiet as it usually is in April. Most years it really slows down after Easter before the coming storm of a new academic year in September. But there is a long way to go before then.

I Heard a Voice.