LIFE & DEATH

4th February 2024. Waterbeach. Southborough.

Funeral Day starts with this austere view of the A10 from outside the Slap Up where the family spent Monday night.

There’s nothing like being the centre of attention at a funeral to make you realise you’re actually an adult, and you really ought to have a rudimentary knowledge of your family tree by 60.

We buried Mum in a private committal at the parish graveyard (she’ll have a nice view of Waterbeach if it’s ever built), then a public celebration of her life at the Salvation Army hall where she spent much of her life.

Over a hundred folk crammed in, including my Dad, whose Alzheimer’s meant he didn’t remember as much as the folk paying tribute to Mum, but his presence there was the highlight of an uplifting day.

Mum had many wonderful traits, but she wasn’t much of a pubgoer.

So it’s a bit ironic that photo tracing the front of the programme (tickers will know there must always be a programme) was taken at the Five Miles From Anywhere, just up the River Cam.

It was on Dad’s birthday last June, when she astounded us by getting through a whole plate of fish and chips on her own. Her appetite faded after Dad went into a care home shortly after.

Life goes on, for Dad, and Mrs RM’s parents in Kent, where we headed straight after the tea and cakes.

I deserved a beer.

This was the best Southborough Tesco Express could do.

It was perfect.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

15 thoughts on “LIFE & DEATH”

  1. I hope you don’t mind me commenting but I always like (if thats’ the right word )the phrase the Salvation Army use ,following a death -“Promoted to Glory ” My condolences anyway x
    Pauline

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  3. A touching tribute to your mum, Martin. Funerals are never easy, so glad to learn that everything went well on the day.

    Looks like Vocation Brewery did the honours with the beer. Given the name, an appropriate choice, if you don’t mind me saying .

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    1. Do you see Vocation down your way, Paul ?

      If anywhere I’d have expected them in Fuggles. Ambitious brewery with bars in Sheffield and Manchester and a lot of supermarket presence. Hope they’re not the next Magic Rock.

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      1. Martin, we rarely, if ever, see Vocation beers on draught, in this part of the world. A shame, as I know the beers would sell well. I had a vague recollection of drinking a Vocation beer, at the Thomas Tallis Alehouse, in Canterbury, but looking back at my blog post from 2019, https:// baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/taking-tinkle-at-thomas-tallis.html, I see that even that hunch was wrong.

        Cans are a different matter though, and today I picked up a couple of packs of Life & Death at ASDA, where they were on offer (2×4 for £10).

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  4. What a very touching post. I’m sure your mum would have been very proud of the way you have dealt with – cliche alert – this difficult time.

    I’m at the Tewkesbury beer festival tomorrow but will buy you a pint at the first opportunity on my return to the beer capital of England.

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