whybother?

The theme for today is death, death and more death. When I awoke this morning, I greeted Mollie in our usual manner, and she promptly burst into tears. Her budgie, Tapper, had fallen off his perch. She had a good howl, then we went about the serious business of notifying the relatives (Nan) and organising the funeral.

She retrieved a cardboard box from the recycling bin and went about turning it into a coffin. She painted and decorated it with stickers and glitter (!), then laid him to rest on a bed of tissues. We sticky taped the box up to deter predators, and prepared the ground for the burial. There was a solemn moment as the coffin was lowered into the ground, more tears were shed. We each quietly remembered Tapper in our own way, and bade silent farewells.

After the interment, Mollie made a floral arrangement and placed it upon the grave. We made a cross out of paddle pop sticks, she then painted it and placed it lovingly at the site. We are currently preparing a headstone out of half a brick.

We received a phone call this afternoon, informing us of the passing of our beloved Uncle Harry. At 94 years of age, he entered the hospital just over a month ago with heart trouble. He began to pick up, and was transferred last week to a nursing home. Apparently he was not overly impressed with this arrangement. It appears he may have decided to give up the fight.

Uncle Harry lost his wife several years ago, and their only child has been virtually living at the house whilst this illness has been going on. With no siblings, and no partner, this is going to be a lonely and heartbreaking time for him.

Meanwhile, how am I going to explain to my new employer that not only do I need time off for tomorrow’s funeral, I’ll also need time off for Uncle Harry’s? I think I’m the only new employee in the history of the world to need to attend 2 funerals in the first week of employment!