Susie's Funeral Service

Susie’s service
The service was so beautiful.
There where over 50 people in attendance. The room was completely filled with flowers. There must have been one hundred vases filled with arranged flowers around the room and another 50 around Susie’s body. There where two photographs on display, with a single candle burning in between them. One photo was a large face shot of Susie, and the other the only group family photo we had taken (Susie, Jerome and Darrell). Also there was a lectern with built in speakers and a microphone, also surrounded with yet more pots of flowers.

Susie’s body was dressed in some of her favourite clothes; a red tong jon (traditional Chinese jacket), a thin red top (underneath), and it was draped with a red cover to just above the waist and her makeup was good. Her body was displayed in a coffin with a clear full length lid.

Printed ‘Order of Service’ in both English and Chinese where given to all the attendees.

Music prelude was ‘Hallelujah’ by Jeff Buckley.

Ryan started the service and eulogise where given by five people, including one song sung a cappella. The penultimate eulogy was a reading from the bible. Darrell eulogized last, and with no notes simply spoke what he remembered of Susie. This part of the service lasted about 40 minutes.

Darrell then introduced and played his final song to Susie ‘China Girl’ by David Bowie. This song had relevance as it had been used on their wedding video.

Attendees where than given the opportunity to pay their last respects to Susie, by approaching her body, and where thanked as they left the room by Darrell.

The assembly talked and consoled each other in the sunshine and sat on marble stools until a coach arrived to take them to an island, 15 minutes away accessible by a bridge.

Under the canopy of a very large tree a catholic priest gave service. He had travailed from his Church in Macau (St. Lawrence’s Church) along with two of his congregation. If he had set foot in the funeral room he would have been arrested. Religious services are not permitted in government buildings. This was the only: priest, rabbi, vicar, holy man we could find.

The religious service lasted about 20 minutes, and ended with a song. The song was again sung a cappella. It was a Bahai religious song.

Back to the bus and on to Ryan’s Bar for a Wake. Some food was made available, and more friends arrived as they became available.

I really need to thank so many people (in no particular order): Jesse, Vivian, Amber, Jackie, Don, Chris, Sharmila, Michael, Ryan, Kingsley, Eva, Nasrin, TPR, Brittany, expat9 (JJ)

In my hour of need some of these people stepped up to the plate and did thing that, quite frankly, I was incapable of doing myself.

I would also like to thank everyone that came to Susie’s Funeral, or contacted me with their massage of condolence and love.

Ryan and Kingsley excelled, with the arrangements for the funeral. There are many aspects of this that I can not talk about, that as westerners we would not think about. I only hope that Ryan and Kingsley can forgive me for exposing them to this. I really do not know how they achieved what they did. An outstanding job. Thank you.

I know there where many more people who wanted to come but could not. I.E. my Mum.

I am expecting that, in the next weeks and months, each of you will invite yourself over to meet my boy ‘Jerome Terence Rea’. And for the ones that have met him, you will not be strangers.