Today I drove down to Kent with my parents to go to a funeral of the husband of one of my Dad's cousins. I had never been to a funeral before where I didn't know the person who had died, but I did know his widow, who I think is my second cousin.
The day was forecast to be very windy and wet so I wasn't sure if the bridge at Dartford was open. We left at 8am and immediately hit traffic on the M1 and this was the pattern for the rest of the journey on this particular motorway. We literally crawled along as there'd been an accident between junctions 11 and 10 and there were also roadworks which slowed us down.
Things picked up on the M25 but I was a little worried we'd be late if something else happened. We decided to risk the bridge rather than the Blackwall Tunnel and I was glad we did as things went smoothly and we arrived at Eltham Crematorium with half an hour to spare.
My Aunt Pat was there as well and had been kindly given a lift by a friend of the widow. Steve was lovely and very friendly but he did remind me a little of Dobby from the Harry Potter films, bless him! Walking into the chapel reminded me of when my Nan died and I gave a Eulogy - I was very glad I didn't have to do that today. However, the lady that did went on and on...and on! If I didn't know the deceased when I walked into the chapel I certainly did at the end of her speech and we were informed of every little thing about his life! The eulogy lasted about fifteen minutes, far longer than it should, in my opinion!
Eventually we emerged into a rainy, blustery day and had a quick chat with the widow who seemed remarkably cheerful! We were invited to the wake at a nearby golf club and I followed my Aunt and Steve who drove a very rugged Land Rover Defender. Not an easy car to lose in traffic I was glad to see!
Arriving at the golf club we were met with an almost gale force wind and driving rain so Mum and I pulled our scarves over our heads and just bolted for the door. We arrived looking like bedraggled rats. By now I would have killed for a cup of coffee but when we went to the table where the pots and cups were, the coffee had all gone!
Luckily a lady came to re-fill them but there was no food to be seen at all and my small breakfast bar at 6.30am was a distant memory! There were just a couple of chairs free as all of the funeral congregation had decided to go to the wake. Dad and I made Mum and my Aunt Pat sit down and eventually some staff arrived with small cake stands on which were a couple of tiny sandwich triangles and some small cakes. Dad and I stood behind Mum and Aunt Pat and encouraged them to take a sandwich but I'm not one for grabbing food and there were about six other people at the table so I said I'd be fine and we'd go and get something to eat when we left. Dad looked very annoyed at the tiny selection and took a sandwich and a scone and made me eat them!
The scone I had was dry and as there were no knives we couldn't spread anything on them. One lady who was near to me was clearly bemused by the whole affair and I have to admit to it not being the most welcoming of wakes! A buffet spread out as we arrived would have been far better! I seem to be a real moaning minny at the moment when it comes to food and eating out so I apologise, but a lot of people looked very hungry as it was now past lunchtime and some of us had obviously travelled a fair distance to attend.
Some more staff came out with plates of sandwiches and some of the mourners fell upon them like a bunch of starving wolves. We felt it was time to leave now as we didn't want to be home late so we said our goodbyes and a lady very kindly offered to direct me back to the A2 if I followed her in her snazzy little Mazda sports car. We had a good journey into London as I'd decided to go home via the Blackwall Tunnel and Mum and Dad reminisced about the time they both worked in East London.
We stopped at South Mimms services and Mum and I had a prawn sandwich while Dad treated himself to a burger. He must have been really hungry! I called Keith at home and said I hoped to be back before 5pm which I was!
He suggested a drink at the pub, which opens at 5pm, so I readily agreed. Heather had come home with Mike from school and was staying for dinner of cottage pie. Keith and I had a very pleasant hour in the pub then went home to finish off the evening meal which was delicious (as always). Heather really enjoyed the meal and it was great to have her around for dinner. Again, I wished Sophie was at home but she'd sent me a message earlier in the day to say she was having the time of her life which I was really pleased about.
After dinner we treated Heather to some early videos and photos of Mike and she found them hilarious! The funniest was the one where I videoed him having an almighty tantrum and Sophie shouting at me that she hated me...oh happy days!
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