31/07/2024
We dispersed Joanna’s ashes at sea on Monday.
I wrote in a previous post that Joanna was adamant that (a) she wanted to be cremated, and (b) she wanted her ashes to be dispersed in the Channel so that part of her might one day end up in England. Chloé and I promised we would do this for her.
On what was – thank goodness – a warm, dry and calm day, Chloé and her partner, Ben, along with a small group of Joanna’s close friends joined me on board the Dieppe lifeboat.
Even though there were nine landlubbers abord, lifeboats apparently don’t have a dignified cruising speed, and so we hurtled out from Dieppe harbour until we reached the requisite distance from land (these things are strictly regulated in France). The boat cut its engine, the whistle blew several times, and Chloé and I proceeded to perform the sad task of pouring Joanna’s remains into the sea. It was probably more by good luck than good management, but as I poured the ashes out, as delicately as I could, a shaft of sunlight was perfectly angled to illuminate them, giving them a rich, purplish colour that looked almost pretty against the dark green of the sea.
One of our friends had brought a bouquet of hydrangeas from her garden – Joanna loved it when she brought hydrangeas when she came to visit – which we cast into the sea next to where the ashes were still briefly floating. The boat circled the spot several times, each time distancing itself a little more from the spot, until after two or three minutes, it headed back to land, at a rate of knots.
“Mum would have loved that,” said Chloé, “although she’d probably have wanted a better quality of boat.” As we bounced and sped our way back to shore, I could only think how whenever we experienced a bumpy Channel crossing, Joanna was wont to sing a rousing chorus of “A Life on the Ocean Waves!”
As I wrote on Facebook shortly after the cremation ceremony, it went as well as we could have hoped. And most importantly, Joanna got her wish.
