Sharon Wood - Funeral Celebrant

26/08/2026

Dolly Parton spent much of her life giving to others.

And, in the end, she gave in another way that many of us understand all too well.

After the death of her husband, Carl, Dolly publicly spoke about something that is common among caregivers and those who have loved someone through a long illness. She admitted that while she was taking care of him, she had not been taking care of herself.

After he died, she said, she realized that she had let many things go that she should have been addressing.

How many of us can relate?

When someone we love is sick, our own needs can become almost invisible. We make the appointments. We manage the medications. We sit in hospital rooms. We watch for changes. We worry. We stay alert.

And somewhere along the way, we may stop paying attention to ourselves.

Then comes the death.

And suddenly, there is a different kind of exhaustion.

The caregiving ends, but grief begins.

The adrenaline that kept us going disappears. The appointments stop. The routines change. The person who needed us is gone, and we are left not only with our grief, but sometimes with the physical and emotional toll of everything that came before it.

Dolly's death should not be reduced to a single explanation. Her cause of death has not yet been announced. But her own words remind us of something important:

The person who is caring for someone who is dying is also going through something.

And when the caregiving ends, we do not simply return to who we were before.

Sometimes, only after the person we love is gone do we begin to realize how much of ourselves we put aside while trying to keep them here.

So today, as we mourn Dolly Parton, perhaps we can also remember the caregivers.

And remember to ask them something we do not ask often enough:

Who is taking care of you?

Sydney – Until Death Do We Part

07/08/2026

Grief Doesn't Divide Families. Expectations About Grief Often Do.

One person needs to talk.

Another can't bear to mention their loved one's name.

One wants to keep every belonging exactly where it is.

Another needs to clean out the closet to survive.

One cries every day.

Another rarely cries at all.

One visits the cemetery every week.

Another never goes.

Neither person is grieving incorrectly.

They're grieving differently.

One of the greatest tragedies I have witnessed is watching families fracture after the death of someone they all loved.

Not because they didn't love each other...

But because they expected everyone to grieve the same way they did.

We mistake difference for indifference.

We assume silence means someone doesn't care.

We believe tears prove love.

We judge the sibling who returned to work quickly.

We criticize the spouse who laughs too soon.

We question the child who doesn't want to keep every photograph.

Yet grief has never been one-size-fits-all.

The same death creates a different loss for every person it touches.

A husband loses a wife.

A daughter loses a mother.

A brother loses a sister.

A grandchild loses a grandmother.

The person they lost was the same.

The relationship they lost was not.

Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give each other is permission to grieve differently.

Because at the end of the day...

We're all grieving the same person.

Let's not lose each other too.

03/08/2026

No One Warned Me About the Secondary Losses

When someone dies, we expect to grieve them.

What we don't expect are the dozens—sometimes hundreds—of smaller losses that quietly follow.

No one warned me that I would also grieve...
..having no one to share ordinary moments with.
..losing the person who knew my history better than anyone else.
..making every decision alone.
..holidays that would never feel the same.
..inside jokes that no one else would understand.
..the future we had planned together.
..the sound of hearing my name spoken in their voice.
..the loss of feeling like part of a couple.
..the person I used to be before grief changed me.

These are called secondary losses, and they can be just as painful as the primary loss itself.

They're often invisible to everyone else.

Friends see the funeral is over and assume the hardest part has passed.

But secondary losses keep unfolding...

Weeks later.

Months later.

Even years later.

Each new milestone, holiday, life event, or ordinary Tuesday can uncover another loss you never imagined you'd have to grieve.

If you've ever wondered why your grief seems to keep changing...

Or why you're suddenly devastated by something that seems "small"...

You're not grieving too much.

You're discovering another piece of what was lost.

And that's a normal part of loving someone deeply.

Be patient with yourself.

Grief isn't just learning to live without the person.

It's learning to live with all the losses their absence created. ❤️

07/07/2026

It’s the 2 year anniversary of the Grief Café at Mundesley Library.

The café runs every Tuesday from 3pm onwards (usually we stay later than 4pm!).

Everyone always receives a warm welcome.

02/07/2026

I held you when you were first born. I gave you a bottle when you needed a feed in the middle of the night. I held your hand when you took your first wobbly steps.

I held your hand as we walked into nursery for the first time.

I held your hand when we played our first game of golf together.

When you started school, you wouldn’t let go of my hand.

When you felt ill, I hugged you tight.

When you were diagnosed with cancer, every ounce of strength I had went into holding it together for you.

When the medicines, needles and procedures became too much, I had to hold you tight so you didn’t move, wishing with every part of me that I could take the pain away instead.

I held your hand when we walked out of hospital with good news.

I somehow held myself upright when we received the bad news.

Ever since, I have simply tried to hold it together.

Tomorrow is National Bereaved Parents Day. I am not the only one.

Every parent who has lost a child has their own story. Every story is different, but every one ends with a hand that had to let go far too soon.

Tomorrow, hundreds of children’s shoes will be placed in Parliament Square. Each pair represents a life that should still be here, a future that should still exist, and parents who continue to carry a love that will never end.

We will remember our amazing children. We will walk in their shoes. And together, we will ask for the change that bereaved parents so desperately deserve. 🧡

Find out more about tomorrow - https://lnkd.in/e_dvd3sp

02/07/2026

Some interesting thoughts - thank you to ‘Poppy’s’ ♥️
I always acknowledge that ceremony time and space belongs to the individual and family - and it’s most definitely okay to do things differently.

There are some things we hear time and again from clients – and they’re often caveated with “am I a terrible person if…?”

Here are just some of them:

"I want there to be lots of laughter."
"I don't want lots of people there - just a small funeral.”
“She 'didn’t want a fuss’, but we want a funeral.”
“Can I be honest in my eulogy – sharing the good and the bad?”
“Do I have to do the ‘meet and greet’ at the funeral?”
“I don't feel up to writing thank you cards."
“I’m still angry at the person who died.”
“They requested a song, but we don’t want to play it.”

Rites of passage like funerals accumulate norms, expectations and customs over time. These range from the obvious, like wearing black, to the too-often unspoken, like showing or not showing emotion, and which emotions it’s ok to feel.

These customs can be very supportive, helping us know what to do during a time when many people are in a state of shock, grief or overwhelm.

But not all the conventions around a funeral work for everyone. Just like every life is unique, each funeral is unique. At Poppy’s we are constantly learning from our clients new ways to mark a death which truly work for the people involved.

We hope by sharing these, more people will realise they aren’t alone in feeling a certain way – and that’s it totally ok to do things differently, too.

Follow Poppy's for more content on bringing funerals out from behind closed doors.

21/06/2026

I had the privilege of leading the most beautiful memorial service yesterday for a highly respected and much loved woman.

The service was held in a park she would visit often, just across the road from the home she had shared with her family, surrounded by the many colours and sweet fragrance of her favourite flower, the rose.🌹

I strongly believe that grief can feel more complicated and unfinished when a death isn’t followed by ceremony - a gathering of friends and family to share memories, support one another, and begin processing their loss together. To acknowledge that a life mattered and give those left behind shared time and space to reflect, remember and grieve…together. To recognise the importance of a life lived.

With many more direct cremations this acknowledgment alongside ceremony, being together whilst holding that person in heart and mind, is diminishing.

This beautiful memorial service serves as testimony that these important needs can be met in the absence of a funeral service.

Such an authentic and dignified farewell, full of respect and love. ♥️

21/06/2026

20/06/2026

We look forward to welcoming you tomorrow at 10am, for a service led by Stuart Kenrick.
We come together to honour, remember, and celebrate the fathers and father figures who are loved and missed 🤍

28/05/2026

Looking forward to being part of this event on Saturday.
There will be a focus on loss and grief and everyone is very welcome.

Reminder💫

It’s our Open Day this Saturday!
30th May from 10am–2pm.

A wonderful opportunity to look behind the scenes, meet the team, and have any questions answered in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

Everyone is welcome 🤍