Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee

IN what I suppose is a sign of advancing age, in the past year I’ve attended four funerals and a wedding (which, though emotional in different ways, were still a lot more fun than Four Weddings And A Funeral; for unbridled mirth Richard Curtis’ magnum opus scores slightly below having a dislocated shoulder put back into its socket, if you ask me, but perhaps I’m just getting old).

- Phil Wisdom

The breakneck pace of life, crammed with urgent trivia, means opportunities to ponder our proper priorities are few and far between; funerals force us to take a step back, and after number three I found myself thinking about what really matters.