Another long and quite emotional and spiritual day today. I woke up at 6.30 a.m. in my spartan hotel room in Bradford, not quite sure where I was or why I was there for a few moments, and then made myself a cup of tea to get myself going. I read my devotionals and then had a bath. I was up and away by 8.30 a.m. (having watched some news about the Libyan crisis on the TV) and followed my satnav to the crematorium at Rawdon in north-west Leeds. The traffic was pretty bad and I was pleased to have allowed myself plenty of time. I couldn't find the entrance to the crematorium and cemetery at first - it lies in a lovely wooded valley with one-way entrance and exit on opposite sites. My satnav was insisting on taking me to the exit! I arrived in good time and sat in the car for about ten minutes, talking to Sara on the phone, before the rest of the mourners arrived. The service was extremely short - about ten minutes - read by the funeral director in a very matter of fact way. A couple of short prayers and then the committal. A complete contrast to the lovely service at St. Joseph's last night. We all stood around for some time afterwards in the cold Yorkshire air and I was introduced to firends and family from Scotland who would be arranging the burial of the ashes alongside Gerry in Glasgow. That will be a very short ceremony for family alone around Easter time. We all went back to Nick's (Dean's best man at his wedding in the Bahamas all those years ago) for tea/coffee and I was asked to gather up the children for a reading of the Will in a private room - which I did. I am named as the executor of the Will along with the eldest and youngest of Maureen's children. It seems that there are a quite a lot of assets scattered around which we'll need to list including investments out in Nassau. It was good to see so many faces from my days out in the Bahamas including a much older David (who sang songs and played the guitar at the pool side in Bougainvillia Avenue and dear Sheila who didn't look any different and still had that cheeky smile - despite the circumstances. We shall all miss Maureen. It looks like I will be seeing a lot more of the family over the coming months as we sort out the estate. I made my fond farewells and set off for Liverpool for my evening meeting with Chris, my appointed spiritual director over an Indian supper. I had a pleasant drive through Bradford and Halifax onto the M62 arriving in Liverpool mid-afternoon at Malcolm's. We had tea and a chat and then walked across Sefton Park to Aldi's to buy food for breakfast. An early dinner at the Indian restaurant with Chris and Malcolm where we discussed quite a number of topics in addition to lay ministry and especially how we are all coping with 14 year old sons! Chris had to leave just before 8 p.m. to play football - after an Indian meal too! Malcolm and I had coffee and then strolled back to the flat to contiue our stories about parenthood. How things change, fifteen years ago we would have been talking about our then wives! The spirituality continued with a bottle of The Famous Grouse and a different form of direction!
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