Sunday 25 January 2009

Great book and great folk!

I am in the middle of reading a fab book at the moment – called 'Big Hearted Man', I’m only on page 75 but the book has moved me so much that I just had to share it with you... Kate Boydell
wrote the book after she was widowed in 1998 after nine years of marriage to her beloved husband Charlie. He died of heart failure at the age of 37.

Please take a look at her website www.merrywidow.me.uk this is a hugely popular online resource for anyone who has lost a partner. Her Second book Death and How to Survive has had some fantastic reviews too.

While we are on about books ...

I must introduce you all to a fellow Funeral Buddy Charles Cowling who writes a fabulous blog with some controversial and funny posts. He’s due to have a book published called ‘The Good Funeral Guide’ . Its sure to be a fantasic handbook and a real insight into the fast changing funeral Industry. I cannot wait to see it in the bookshops.

Monday 19 January 2009

Naive?

Yes yes, so much for my New Year resolution of blogging at least once a week *slap on wrist*

My excuse is that I've been working hard! I've been busy as a bee preparing and giving presentations about Sentiment Ltd - There have been some hairy moments and a few times when all 6 computers in this office were on their way out the window - PowerPoint and myself are not friends!! However, all in all, it has been a fun start to 2009.

This last week I met up with a TV production company who approached me with the view of possibly hosting a TV show about funerals. So I headed into London Town to meet the TV company and talk through their ideas. The nice TV chap said to me... "We want to follow the stories of 6 people who are dying. They will need to pre-plan their funeral and then when they die we will film it." He went on to tell me that he needs to do this in a 6 month time scale! I sort of looked at the poor guy with a bit of a blank expression and asked him what happens if these people live beyond the 6 months?

His response was... "Well, if they've got something like motor neurone disease, they're guaranteed to die right?" Oh my god I wanted to laugh so hard! If it wasn't for the fact he was so sweet and genuinely serious, with all the best intentions of showing funerals in the right light, I may have slapped him in the face and told him to wake up to the reality that this real life we are talking about?

Anyway, I saw it as endearing and naive, so I'll forgive him and hope that he has gone back to the drawing board with a bit more research, understanding and compassion! I suppose when you've had no experience whatsoever with death and dying, you can see life so black and white!