Father Gerald
Friday, July 5, 2019 @ 2:08 PM
Father Gerald
As the day of the funeral drew closer, family and friends went to meet the vicar. Now that was an experience, I walked into his very cluttered office, a desk in the middle surrounded by boxes and files. When he joined me I was surprised to find a South African version of the character Rowan Atkinson played in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'.
I was the last person to meet with him, so I was just putting meat on the bones of what others had told him.
He was very keen to tell me about himself, moving from South Africa and the fact that he had been widowed just two years before. Then he had moved to the UK and not unpacked yet, I could see that!
He then went on to tell me that my Dad would remarry within a year, just as he had done. It was shocking to be told this before the funeral of my Mother had even taken place, I didn't know how to react, it was so inappropriate. Of course, if my Dad did decide to remarry that would be up to him, but now a total stranger deciding for him all I could say was 'REALLY!'
As soon as I walked out of the house I suddenly found the situation funny, giggling to myself as I walked to my car, I thought how The Church of England must be a bit short of vicars to have this man in their ranks. I wondered if he was even capable of doing a service, time would tell.
Everything was now in place hymns and the music was chosen, venue for the wake booked, harpist for the wake booked, crematorium sorted, speeches were written and flowers order.
All we had to do now was wait for the dreaded day to arrive.
