Sophie is up and out at first light. The sky is blue and the morning sun already warm. A perfect day for chasing C-A-T-S and digging up mole hills. There are half a dozen early rising ( and family avoiding ?) dog owners exercising their companions by the river.
The Old Farmer is badly shaken up. In the absence of family the French health care 'system' has cranked into action. A cremation is planned for the last slot this ( Monday ) afternoon. The lady friends wishes regarding the funeral were on her medical notes at the local health centre. These have been consulted, confirmed by her doctor and acted on. A certificate has been issued. To say this is 1) a surprise and 2) amazingly efficient would both be major understatements - the more so as it's all happened over a Christmas weekend. The Old Farmer is not happy when the news of the cremation is relayed to him. He is of an age where the dead are buried not cremated . It seems cremation is a relative novelty in the more rural and conservative parts of the country.
We find the crematorium on Google. It is about forty minutes down the motorway. The website shows it to be one of those places that looks like a park in a London suburb. Large flower beds, close cropped lawns, pine trees, stone paths and a red brick chapel that could pass as a cricket pavillion. Sylvan charm , with a slight Moorish touch, squeezed in between the canal and the Nissan dealerships workshop. The Old Farmer announces that the ceremony needs to be cancelled. ' She should be in a cemetery !'. Calls are made but it's soon evident that the system has set its course.
So begins a new day in a small French village where nothing ever happens ... until it does.
An infectiously happy Romanian band celebrating the new railway service between Bucharest and Chisinau :https://youtu.be/bGNT5Uh-WKw?t=84
10 comments:
What a tough time for the Old Farmer. Did his lady friend specify a cremation, do we know?
If the lady friend specified cremation, that's kind of tough for the Old Farmer. The poor thing.
Funerals happen very quickly here too, usually within 24 to 48 hours - unless it's a weekend or holiday time. So sad for the Old Farmer, but he will surely respect his lady friend's wishes if she preferred to be cremated. The crematorium most used hereabouts, tasteful though the interior is, is attached to the local VW workshop, and the walls are not that thick!
Hopefully her wishes are being carried out exactly as she wanted them, even if it's not what the Old Farmer would have requested himself. These things are so very difficult and so sad. Bless you for being there for him.
French efficiency, could be the topic of a new blog
A dangerous time for the Old Farmer with all that he is handling - not of his choice. Keep an eye on him please.
Hari OM
I am impressed that the 'system' consulted the lady's records and are, presumably, acting as per... clearly it was not something discussed between the elderly lovers. Sad indeed, though if there is no other instruction or claim, is he able to retain the ashes? Surely then they could be interred in the cemetary if he so wished? Oh Angus, how you have us all worrying for TOF!!! YAM xx
Bless your kind heart for taking care of the Old Farmer's broken heart.
I guess the Old Farmer does not see a happy medium, burying the urn in a cemetery.... It is hard to change one's expectations of what is proper.
How I feel for the TOF!
Dieu voulant, may he be spared all the "what-ifs" anguish...
I wish him fortitude in the long labour of patience that is grief.
Thank you for looking after him.
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