She wears black. Always. As it turns out, death was not the end of her story. Chapter five.
Penny said “Mum had told me about a little notebook she called her ‘death book’ that she wrote in. It was a book imbued with spirit... some of that was probably brandy.”
“You know, I’ve never been able to grasp that in a time of deep grief people have to organise and decide so many things - when they can barely get out of bed! I am grateful to mum for taking that off my plate.”
In her book Penny’s mum wrote about what she would like for her funeral including flowers, hymns and who (and how long) should speak. “So, all I needed to do was rip out the first three pages. Like tearing out a small piece of someone’s heart - but in a good way.”
I was there and I was brightly dressed. As was Penny’s mother. The funeral was beautiful. Penny whispered to me afterwards “I had the little book in my pocket, and while I was saying my last goodbye to mum, the one thing I didn’t agonise over was hoping I had made the right choices. I knew it was what mum wanted and she would have loved it.”
As her friends gathered around for support, Penny got braver and read more of the little ‘death’ book.
Sunday prize draw!
Congratulations to the winners of this week's prize draw who will receive a $50 cafe voucher.
The winners are:
Sarah McGarry from Tawa
Jenna Holland from Woolston
Tobias Nash from Northland
Sascha Howie from Tauranga
Get in touch with the Neighbourly team here if you are on this list.
Not a winner? Maybe next week you will be!
Show us your projects
Whether it's craft, haberdashery, woodwork or upcycling, we'd love to see what you've been working on lately.
You may even spark someone else's creativity...
Tell us about your current project or show us a picture in the comments below...
Poll: Is your nearest emergency department up to scratch?
Concerns have been raised about Nelson Hospital with complaints of lack of staffing and excessive wait times. Do you have confidence in your local emergency department?
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36.4% Yes, it serves us well
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62.8% No, I have concerns
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0.8% Other - I'll share below
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