Helen Chick
A couple of days before what would have been Lisa’s 45th birthday* some of her family and friends gathered down at Carlton Beach for an informal farewell.
We chatted and had soup around a couple of fire drums in the late afternoon, glad that the weather was being kind to us at this time of year.
Around sunset, Lisa’s children and I braved the chilly water and scattered Lisa’s ashes along with some flowers. (The purple and lilac beanies were knitted by Lisa’s mother, in honour of Lisa’s favourite colour purple and her love of her father’s lilac tree.)
We then lit some sparklers as the last sunset colours faded to dusk.
We knew some of the things that Lisa had wanted at her funeral (she’d been quite specific about the music, wanting John Farnham’s You’re the Voice among other things), but she hadn’t told us very much apart from that, and so we can only hope that between the formal funeral and today’s informal gathering we did most of the things she would have liked.
*Lisa liked even numbers, so 44 is a better age for her. She joked about being 42 and 12 twelfths when she turned 43, and continued with the twelfths through the following months until, to her relief, she turned 44.
Helen, I’ve only just found your blog and look forward to exploring it further, but already your considerable talent with the camera and sharing your experiences is much appreciated. BTW I’m not that Parsons kid from down south but I lived up north and knew your sister Cathy and brother Colin a little better than yourself and that’s all many moons ago before I moved back to Sydney in 1990. Keep up the great work. Cheers!