At my mother's interment, my brother gave a eulogy by the grave. 'Mum and Dad bought this plot on my 24th birthday,' he said. 'But it only came with a 50-year lease. So if I manage to survive to the age of 74, I hope I have enough savings left to buy an extension!' In spite of my sadness, I smiled. It was just like Tom to try to lighten the mood. He was 55 and I was 53 and 74 seemed a long way off. Two and a half years later, I was standing by the grave again and Tom was in it.
'Dying,' says the poet Sylvia Plath in her poem Lady Lazarus 'is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well.' I have thought of that poem quite a lot in the last few years. I am, of course, no expert in the act of dying. I've had cancer twice and done my very best to keep myself alive. But after burying both my parents and both my siblings, I'm beginning to feel like a bit of an expert in death.
The first funeral I ever went to was my sister's. My father phoned me at work to tell me that Caroline had collapsed while she was washing up. The paramedics, he said, had done their best. I was 36 when Caroline died at 41. Tom was 38. I had no idea how to arrange a funeral or register a death and I had no idea how you were meant to do any of this when your world had just been blown apart.
Bewildering choices
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 12, 2023 من WOMAN - UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 12, 2023 من WOMAN - UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Terminal cancer, BUT HAPPIER THAN EVER
Despite her diagnosis, Jacqui Drake is determined to live the best life she can while also helping others
Simple LOAF CAKES
Three fuss-free sweet treats all made in a 900g tin
SCENIC sailing
Ariver cruise along the Danube Delta is a wonderful way to relax and watch the world float by
THE TRUTH about dating as a single mum
Rosie Green was shocked by what many men were thinking
Younger eyes in 10 MINUTES
Worried your vision is ageing you? These lifestyle tweaks can help
Lawsuits, splits and FAMILY BATTLES!
It's been an eventful time for the royals since the King was crowned last May. We take a look at his first year at the helm of The Firm
When will KNIFE CRIME STOP?
With the world horrified after the recent stabbings in Sydney, we ask...
Ozempic: SHARON vs KELLY
As Sharon Osbourne warns others against using the controversial drug for weight loss, her daughter Kelly Osbourne is all for it
Eric makes me AKID AGAIN
Simon Cowell on why this year’s Britain’s Got Talent is different, training up his son Eric to become a judge and reuniting with Cheryl
Look at me NOW!
Sue Sykes found that losing over 9st had several surprising benefits