16th June 2019

June and Lawrie Hale on their Golden Wedding Anniversary

It has been a challenging week for our family. My lovely mother died, aged 93, on the same day that Notre Dame, Paris, burnt, my father having died (aged 98) at the end of 2017. On Thursday June 13th (their 72nd Wedding Anniversary) we buried their combined ashes in the peaceful Arboretum Cemetery here in Bingham, following a beautiful service in Southwell Minster, conducted by my old friend and colleague Canon Nigel Coates. Family and friends came together from all over the UK, from the USA and from Italy, so it was an amazing and enriching gathering. All went well, though we do now feel emotionally and physically drained, and it’s odd — even at our age — being without parents.

Flowers on June and Lawrie Hale’s grave, 13 June 2019