Family and funeral fantasies

My mum was very taken with the notion of going up to space and going out with a bang. But there was dissent when we discussed the issue at dinner. My sister Becky didn't like it. It was far too off the wall for her. She likes a bit of tradition and feels that funerals are the time like no other for employing tradition. She would like a Rolls Royce for a hearse with a tasteful floral display on top. No horses, and no flowers spelling 'sister' or 'auntie'. She wants the weeping children to carry her coffin on their shoulders. She doesn't want a church service, having rarely stepped inside one. "But I don't want one of those crematoria that looks like a 1960s prefab" she adds. She wants to be buried in a picturesque graveyard, and she's got her eye on one in Wandsworth. I know the one she means (on Bolingbroke Road) and I feel sure it's bound to be full. I know I need to explore how you do get to be buried where you want and how to find a crematorium you like.

My mum reckons Becky's fantasy burial has cost tens of thousands of pounds already and says she hopes she's leaving the money to cover it. Then it's back to the rockets. My son Nicholas says it would be no fun (unless you went to see the launch) because nothing would happen. He wants fireworks. That's next up.