BERYL'S FUNERAL

Today was Mum Beryl’s funeral. We arrived just as it was about to start at Allambie Memorial Park in Nerang. We saw many familiar faces there, including Pastor Dexter, who specially flew in that morning from Malaysia to be at the funeral service, Pastor Len, Beryl’s pastor of Genesis Church, Ebbie, Dexter’s daughter who flew in from Melbourne, Neil Falcke and his dad and daughter, Marnie, Neil Bishop and his wife, Pam from Brisbane, Sue McBeath and hubby Ken as well as church members from Genesis like the Youngs and Brett.

It felt strangely peaceful there in the graveyard because the surroundings were so green and pretty. My first time on an Australian burial ground area and many graves, unlike those grandly ornamented Chinese graveyards, had very inconspicuous tombstones (or rather, plaques ) which lay flat on the ground. Almost stepped on one!! Beryl is a very dear friend of ours and as we laid her to rest today, we knew that she had indeed lived a life that had touched so many others. Here was one ordinary lady who had made her life count for God in an extraordinary way.

This was a closed casket type of funeral so we never got to take one last look of her. At the end of the service, we went forward and scattered petals on her coffin. But it didn’t feel the least bit tragic at all, because she had really lived a fulfilled life in God and went in a dignified, painless, peaceful manner. I think the sadness was more for ourselves, those she left behind.

After the funeral, they held a celebration service for Beryl . Seems like over here, especially for christian practice, they have the funeral service & burial first, attended by the closer friends and family members, then have a subsequent service for others in the form of a celebration service to celebrate the life of the departed. Then again, it may vary according to individual preference of different families.

Dexter gave a 30-minute eulogy on Beryl and ended with one of her fave songs: "You shall cross the barren desert." He strummed it on guitar while Ebbie sang with him.

Peter read from Psalms 91 and her son, Jeff shared about her family background.

Neil Falcke sang a beautiful rendition of ‘To God Be the Glory”. He joked that Beryl told him he must do so, so he said he’d better sing it today, otherwise he might ‘get into trouble’…Neil has been a fantastic spiritual son to her and taken care of her so well. We saw how he faithfully chauffered her for walks, bought shopping items, ran errands and did up her house to be ‘Beryl-friendly’ when she got too weak to climb upstairs. He read scriptures and shared with her when she laid in hospital. He used to cut her toe nails for her when she couldn't bend over. Every Sunday after service, he brought her out for lunch. He is a fine example of a great son and we are so proud of him- such a gem.

So,…Goodbye Beryl for now. You were a caring friend, mum, aunt, confidante to me amongst many others in Gold Coast and I don’t think I will ever meet another quite like you. The tears shed this morning were more for the loss of a great friend, than for your death. We love you and miss you already.