Home Sweet Home for Narelle

Sometimes, 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 story of her life.  When I arrived into Des and Narelle’s home, I was greeted by a cross-stitched sign on the front entrance, made by Narelle, which read: “Home Sweet Home.”

That small detail seemed to offer a way into something much larger about her life and the life she and Des had created together.

I opened the ceremony with these words:

“Today you come together with sadness at Narelle’s passing, but also with gratitude for a life that was rich in love, family, friendship and service. As some of you know, Narelle’s greatest wish in her final days was simply to go home. That desire says something important about who she was. Home and family mattered deeply to Narelle. Visitors to their home were greeted by Narelle’s cross-stitched sign on the front entrance that reads “Home Sweet Home.” Des and Narelle’s home has always been a place of welcome, care, comfort and belonging which says a lot about them both.”

For me, it was a reminder that sometimes the most revealing place to begin is with something small: a wish expressed at the end of life, a sign on a front door, an object kept for decades, or a habit that was particular to them.

By the time I had finished talking with her husband Des and met her through the eyes of her four boys, I know I would have enjoyed her company.