A Tale of Two Funerals.

I don't like to talk about dying on the blog, but there are two conversations that recently resonated with me.

The first was overheard in one of our local shops, where the main man there was showing his colleague some important looking papers he was drawing up.  It turned out these were his Funeral Plan!

He'd, apparently, been to two funerals recently - one which was the full works - a horse drawn carriage, a classy coffin and sophisticated send off, while the other was the bare minumum allowed legally - his friend's body picked up from the local mortuary by his son, popped in a box in the back of a jeep and taken up to the crematorium himself.  

The latter had obviously upset him a great deal and he started to tell me about how expensive it is to die nowadays!

The difference between these two funerals, he went on to explain, was a pre-paid funeral plan and he was taking one out, so that he could get a decent send off and not lumber his own children with the rapidly rising costs involved or, indeed, limit the way he would like to go.

The other conversation that I overheard took place in Downton Abbey (something I'm terribly new to, so please excuse my being vague) on a Sunday night, where the solid Mr. Carson was (I think!) talking about his master whose ulcer had burst all over the dining table and he was telling his new wife how 'Life is short and death is sure.'

So when I was asked to feature the infographic below which features the simply staggering cost of a funeral in the UK - something that has increased by a massive 92.3% in the last decade, it felt the right thing to do.

Sometimes life is trying to tell us something, even if it's about dying!

The cost of dying in the UK, with Northern Ireland the lowest, London, the highest. 

The average cost of a funeral in the UK is £3693, but it's set to rise to £4620 by 2020.

Long live local shops though and the conversations that can occur!

Even though it's a sensitive subject and difficult to bring up, arranging for our wishes to be met in a funeral plan ahead of the event itself, not to mention covering their costs, can surely be a comfort and make things easier for those who are left behind.

Disclosure -  this is a collaborative post, but all words are true and my own, obvs.