Working with the public can be demanding, entertaining, frustrating and often unpredictable. They can tax your patience, your sense of humour……………..

The young man was charming, introducing himself as John; we planned to view six properties. After the first two houses I still had no idea what he was looking for, hours later by the sixth I was still none the wiser. On the journey back to the office my head reeling from the continuous talking by this man, I asked him what he felt about each property, the locations were all wrong, and then he points to a building on the outskirts of a village. “That’s what I want” became more insistent “I must get the keys for viewing inside tomorrow”. Jokingly I replied that it maybe difficult to gain entrance or get an answer to phone calls, but I would try. At this point I expected him to laugh. Poker faced he was still insistent to see inside, not realising he was looking at the village cemetery.

I smile every time I hear location is everything!

One fact in an uncertain world is that we will die; we have all been advised to make our wills especially living often away from family, in a different country than our birth. There is one related subject often unspoken. Through sad experience in the last few years as both my parents have died, I took comfort on knowing exactly what arrangements they wished. For my Mother this was a subject too painful to discuss with me. “A Victorian Lady” in her standards I suggested that she wrote a letter to me that she didn’t post, stating after her death what arrangements my brother and I were to make for her funeral.  The content of this letter, read at such a sad time made us laugh and cry. Down to the very last detail of the flowers, vintage Rolls Royce hearse, church service, inscription on the headstone even to that we were to walk behind the hearse as a mark of respect (a tradition I was not aware of). The final point, Mum a perfect hostess, we were instructed on what food to be served at the wake. This may sound macabre to some, but it gave comfort to us to know that what we did was everything she wanted for the family gathering in her honour. I hope from above she was watching us with approval.

One of my clients informed me that there are insurance policies that cover the final arrangements including return to your country of birth for the funeral if wished, costs of these arrangements, plus the wake and airfares for next of kin and so on are covered. Most of the international insurance companies do this kind of policy, for an annual fee.

I hope my final arrangements are as good as my Mother’s!