Wendy’s voice is full of love and laughter, honest and deep, daring to go to places many others avoid. Her voice shares the beauty in nature, people and life in all its imperfection and purity. Her intelligence, wisdom and kindness are revealed with her words, a joy to those blessed to read or hear them. Dr Georgina Gibson
Image: Doris Zagdanski and Wendy Haynes
Community Conversations about Living and Dying
A proud grandma post! My lovely grandsons, Leo and Reuben, together with their dad, Joe, have formed a band: Jacana (the Band). They are mad birdies as well as guitarists, so they chose their name after the beautiful Jacana bird. At just 9 and 12, Leo and Reuben are enthusiastic…
Read BlogMy celebrant colleague, Bill Stubbs, shared this reading from a memorial service he officiated at last week. The excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh, where he shares the story of his own mother’s death, was read by the daughter of the deceased. “The same thing happens when we lose any of…
Read BlogElsie Morrison lived a remarkable 98 years. Even though an elder is expected to die soon, their death can still come as a shock to the family and close friends, and the grief can sit alongside the gratitude, the relief… For Elsie’s family this was true. To start the ceremony…
Read BlogSometimes, when preparing a funeral, a small detail opens up the whole ceremony. For Narelle Hoy, it was home. Narelle was a schoolteacher, a mother of four boys and a woman who was deeply involved in and loved by her community. There were many possible ways to begin telling the…
Read BlogSome funerals are definitely harder than others to prepare for. Mitch’s death was sudden and unexpected. He was a young father of two beautiful little boys, and he died in an accident. The shock, disbelief, and the tragedy rippled not only through his beloved family but throughout the entire community….
Read BlogTrigger warning: this is a personal story of death, shared with some detail. Please read with care. Dad died here at his home on Easter Sunday. It was a good death in that he wasn’t afraid of dying, and he was so ready to leave his tired 90 year old…
Read BlogAs part of our final session, Wisdom and Wonder, from the program, Finding Peace in Aging, that Jeff Joslin and myself hosted online, I invited participants to contribute an offering towards a closing blessing. Here it is… the wisdom and the wonder. May you have deep and continued connection in…
Read BlogWhy did you do this to me can be one of the most painful questions in a relationship. Years ago, the first couple who came to me asking for a divorce ceremony brought with them a vow from a book by Hans Jellouschek, a therapist who had spent decades working…
Read BlogA dedicated group of celebrants gathered online to workshop Divorce and Uncoupling Ceremonies. For the close, I invited everyone to put forward a line for a blessing that may be offered at the close of a divorce or uncoupling ceremony and I offer it here as a compilation. May you…
Read BlogOver the coming weeks, I’ll share my journey with my dad and his dying and his ceremony. For now, I’ll share this moving rendition of Psalm 23 and the introduction to this song in his ‘falling off the perch’ ceremony. “Mum and Dad attended St Johns Anglican Church for a…
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