Hearing the music, people came out of their houses, wondering if someone famous had died. I’ve lost count of the number of people, across ages and backgrounds, who told me it’s the best funeral they’ve ever been to, writes Kerrie O'Brien | OPINION
funeral industry. Both provide much lower cost services than the big corporates, and use more sustainable practices. They can even help family or friends of the deceased to wash the body and to keep it at home for a period of time, rather than handing those tasks over. Several interviewees in theKnowing we could create an event that spoke to Mike’s passions rather than following a one-size-fits-all template, was liberating.
Clockwise from left, Clancy and Quinn O’Brien with their father Michael, his mother Colleen and his niece Tessa.opened proceedings and later, family friend Annie Jones sangYou Can’t Always Get What You Wantand Nina Simone’s take onAttendees were able to have a drink during the service, which might seem sacrilegious but few celebrations in our household happen without the offer of a drink, whether a cup of tea or something harder.
We were able to make that raucous march happen. At the end of the service, several of the musicians he’d followed religiously, led by Ben Gillespie and including Dave Evans, played beautifully, a slow, soulful tune, as everyone walked outside. Leaving the room that had been so filled with grief, the energy changed; the autumnal sun was shining and the air crisp.
Waiting there was the Last Hurrah hearse, a 1973 Cadillac Deville, nicknamed Mama Cass. Given my brother’s love of all things vintage, she couldn’t have been more fitting. The musicians began to play a more upbeat, celebratory offering and, as the car drove off, we followed it down the street, holding hands, linking arms.Hearing the music, people came out of their houses, wondering if someone famous had died.
Nothing will ever fill the gaping hole my brother leaves. But I take a tiny bit of solace in having created a send-off that reflected something of him, that honoured him. I’ve lost count of the number of people, across ages and backgrounds, who told me it’s the best funeral they’ve ever been to, which he also would have loved. If only he could have been there.
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