Celebration of Life

On Saturday, Phil and Nathan held a Celebration of Life party for Jean Morgan. Around eighty people gathered at the Community Centre just above the beach at Branksome Dene Chine for an afternoon of sharing stories, thoughts and photos of Jean.

 

There were friends, relatives and colleagues from the many places Jean, Phil and Nathan had lived and worked: Gloucester, Plymouth, Bristol, Poole, Woodgreen, Bath, Southampton, Brighton and many others. We ate, drank and chatted. I met people I hadn't seen for years and made friends with some people I had never met. It was a bittersweet occasion.

 

In the middle of the afternoon Phil called everyone together and invited us to join him and Nathan for a dip in the sea in memory of Jean. There was little hesitation from a majority of the company. Soon the Community Centre had become a changing room, as people stripped to reveal a range of bathing costumes.

 

We assembled on the beach. A cool wind blew under an overcast sky and most clutched towels around their shoulders. Waiting for stragglers to join us, we huddled like penguins on the Antarctic ice shelf.

Then Phil shouted 'cmon, lets go' and ran towards the sea. Some raced to join him, others strode purposefully. All gasped as the water hit them. It was chilled to 9 degrees. The skin tingled and smarted. Some dived in and swam. Others paddled, meeting the bracing waves on tiptoes. All returned to the beach with shivers and smiles.

About fifty members of the party had entered the sea. An element that Jean was at home in had briefly become ours too. Returning to the Community Centre we celebrated her life and her memory, enlivened.