They informed the Hospice of their
Direct It Yourself plans and although
surprised, as no one had done this before, they went into overdrive to help
make it happen: booking an appointment to see the registrar to get the green
burial form and arranging for a nurse
to help when collecting William’s body.
Gently wrapping him in the shroud and
carrying him to the van they drove him
home and put the Flexmort blanket on
while he spent the night in the van.
The family of 11 had an Indian takeaway meal and lit an outdoor fire by
the van. The next morning in glorious sunshine the back of the van was
opened and the children – rather
nervously at first – stroked his face,
did his hair and arranged their flowers around him – they had prepared
wild flowers from the garden.