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My daughter took her own life at 23 years old, I was thrown into an unknown realm of disbelief and utter desperation. I was in shock for a long time, even now eight months on it still feels like it did not happen to my family. At first I felt as though I was watching a video of someone else's life.
I was very fortunate to have such a strong husband who was able to deal with all of the arrangements, otherwise perhaps we would have just phoned the funeral directors.
One thing that I was sure about was that I did not want to cremate my beautiful daughter, I had heard about natural burials from a dear friend and when I visited I knew that it was the right place for Leigh to be laid to rest.
I also wanted her casket to me handmade especially for her which is why I chose Cath to make it for us, I can not express enough how compassionate Cath was at such a difficult time in our lives.
I like many people did not realise that we can have a natural burial for our loved ones, or indeed that you can arrange everything for yourselves in any manner that is fitting for you, it is not just the funeral you can do yourself it is the whole journey from collecting your loved one, transporting them in a way that you feel appropiate and to the extent that you can dig the grave and bury them yourselves without any of the usual formalities.
Death is seldom talked about in our society and even when it is we tend brush the subject away. I remember when my grandma spoke about her funeral and my reply was "It's not going to happen to you gran" but of course it did and we had not listened to her wishes.
The death of a loved one is a very difficult time for any of us to bear, whether it comes as a terrible shock through an untimely death or it may be a release from a terminal illness, or simply old age like my grandma. Bereavement is a harrowing experience and because it is not talked about we are even less prepared when it actually happens to someone that we love but of course it is the one inevitable thing that will ihappen to us all.

We did everything on our own for Leigh's last journey, just as our ancestors did before us. I have now arranged my own funeral and other members of my family, we will be buried alongside my daughter.

Bless you Cath and thank you, I will always be grateful to you.

Debbie Simms-Walker

As a thank you to Cath I have build this website, if anyone would like to see how beautiful a natural burial can be and how we did it on our own you can see some film on Leighs'
 

The Sustainability Centre Petersfield