Bye, Marj

Yesterday afternoon I put on my best suit and went to a funeral. Not just because I felt like it, but because this was the time to say goodbye to a woman who I'd only met twice in my life. Marj was one half of the couple who were my "host family" for this year, which are a group of volunteers at my church here in Winchester who every so often invite students round to their house for a meal. When these meals included pheasant, you knew you were in for a treat with Marj.

I've been to a few funerals already , and they are obviously not meant to be enjoyable experiences. And yet, yesterday's service was possibly the loveliest funeral I had been to in a while. The church was packed, the music was gorgeous, and the mood was so much more optimistic than you would perhaps expect. It was so much more a Thanksgiving than a Funeral.

I'm wondering if the church has anything to do with it. I mean, Christ Church, though Church of England, is very different to any other C of E church I've been to, which is definitely part of its appeal. There is always an optimistic mood in the building's atmosphere, and this influences every event and service held there. And in the case of a funeral I feel that this really helps. It helped yesterday at least - it was the perfect way to say goodbye, for Marj was just like Christ Church, heck, she was Christ Church. I found myself agreeing with practically everything that was said about her yesterday, and I'd only met her twice!

Laters, Marj.