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After the worst has happened

Gosling, Richard2024
Books, Manuscripts
When Richard Gosling's young daughter faced emergency surgery, a colleague carelessly asked what would happen if she died. In that moment, Richard was forced to picture his own daughter's funeral, and the people who are there to help families after the worst has happened. Aged 40, Richard left his job in the public service and started preparing coffins, driving hearses, assisting in the mortuary and bringing in the deceased from hospitals and nursing homes, slowly working his way up to become operations manager of a venerable Sydney funeral home. After the Worst Has Happened lifts the curtain on a world we all try to avoid but must pass through. It shows the lighter side of death amid all its other facets, as Richard steers families through heartbreak, anger and grief while holding space for love and acceptance. Ultimately, it's about how extraordinarily beautiful it can be to spend a daily life surrounded by our final rite of passage.
Main title:
After the worst has happened / by Richard Gosling.
Imprint:
Mulgrave, VIC : Affirm Press, 2024.Bunurong/Boon Wurrung Country ; South Melbourne, VIC : Affirm Press, 2024.
Collation:
280 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : colour illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm.
Notes:
"Tales from a funeral director on the lighter side of death"--Cover.
Contents:
Monday morningWet socksFirst interviewToesA lasting markFirst funeralEarly daysChrisDarknessFaithOdetteA little deathTeaching floristsMeetingsThings said towards the endBooksCovidEvening rosaryContemporary flowersThe last trainThe date and the timeThe boxThe urnTwo funerals and two weddingsMy funeralTwo lettersEpilogue.
ISBN:
9781923022379 (paperback)
Dewey class:
BIOGRAPHY
Language:
English
BRN:
461654
LocationCollectionCall numberStatus/Desc
PenrithNonfictionBIOGRAPHY GOSLAvailable
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