Re: Eccentric relatives

July 5, 2001

Vicki, I think I must have missed any earlier posts about your grandfather -

I WANT TO KNOW MORE! He sounds amazing!

Anneliese and Toddler Tim as I suppose I must call him now...

Re: Digest Number 1270

My Grandfather (he of the velvet dinner skirt and the sheep, I must have

told you...) had an interesting funeral. He'd bought a burial cloth in

Africa - double sized - and wanted to be cremated just in half of that - he

cut it up and the other half's for his gf. However, the funeral directors

were unhappy about handling a corpse in only a shroud. Don't know why, as

this is how it's done virtually everywhere else. Grumpy was quite adamant

he didn't want a wooden coffin, though, so managed to find a cardboard one

from somewhere, which was then draped with his shroud (which was beautiful),

in the end. His service was in a church, but conducted by the family not

the vicar. He was cremated, and scattered half in E Sussex and half in the

Masai Mara - he was also adamant he had to be thrown into an elephant's

footprint. His will was read by my uncle at the wake and included a clause

that we are all to be kind to ginger cats as that is how he hopes to return.

Vicki Portman

July 5, 2001

> He was lovely! See my post Vicki's Grandpa for more tales... I

could go on all day - there are plenty of them

You should write them all down in a book - the stories so far have

been really readable and make you want to laugh and cry at the same

time! I bet it would be saleable and maybe you could put the

proceeds into a local cat's home for the welfare of ginger pussies!!

Ruth

July 5, 2001