Saying goodbye...

Yesterday, following a funeral service in town,  Gloria was buried in the little graveyard of St Cuthbert's Church in Governor's Bay. Two things stood out for me at the burial... 

The bellbirds sang - not just individually but in chorus - throughout the short ceremony.

Woven into the flowers on Gloria's coffin were little treasures from in and outside her house - a driftwood animal, shells, a bird's nest, pieces of paua (which reflected the colour of the flowers), a tiny kete made by a friend... 

It was so beautiful.