It was good

There were no naked men at Sy's funeral but I'm glad that I went.

I left Sydney at 7.30am and the drive was slow in the morning city peak and then quite speedy once outside of Sydney's limits. Very strong gusts of wind buffeted the car but otherwise the journey was uneventful.

The turn out at the Crematorium was large with the mourners overflowing the Chapel into the cold wind outside. Luckily the visiting Sydney contingent was early and we were snuggly inside the warmth of the Chapel. I caught up with old friends I hadn't seen for years, some of whom I have only had contact with for many years through the annual exchange of Christmas cards.

Mt, who took me under her wing when we were posted to London in 1974/75, was as mothering as ever and we resumed chatting and gossiping as though it were an ongoing weekly coffee shop routine.

One of the elderly mourners mistook me for Sy's son following the service and came over to console me over his death and to reminisce about past times. I didn't have the heart to correct him so just nodded in appreciation.

Following the service I made a quick detour over to DFAT for coffee and a sandwich with Da before making the trip home. My pre-trip prediction of a round trip drive of 7 hours proved to be spot on and I was home at 6.10pm.