On 27 September 2015 we held a memorial service and scattered Emmaline's ashes at Broulee Island, NSW. It was a terribly sad but beautiful day. There is so little of a person in their ashes, but in other ways so much. I agonised over how to deal with them. In the end Nina made beautiful ceramic urns which held Em's ashes in our home and on the trip from Melbourne to Broulee Island. The urns are imprinted with leaves from the she-oak tree which we had chosen as Em's final resting place. Every time we visit Broulee Island we'll pick some foliage from the same tree which we'll bring home to place in the urn. And over time the leaves will contain some of Em's cells, in living form. It will be a little ceremony of renewal that will keep Em in our lives, and that I think would make her happy.
Tobi took beautiful photos of the memorial service:
