I was born and raised in Nottingham, England. When I was 26, I came to the Netherlands for a six-month course and ended up staying in this country that I have grown to love.
I live in Eindhoven together with my husband, Huub. We are the proud parents of two adult daughters.
As well as being a funeral celebrant, I am also a sworn translator. In essence, both professions entail ‘listening’ attentively to what someone else is saying and then interpreting their message with care.
My main hobby is making music. I play piano and accordion in various contexts and also enjoy singing. My background is in classical music, but I appreciate a wide range of genres. A favourite activity is making music for – and with – people with dementia. Familiar melodies and lyrics often have the power to ‘reach’ them and create valuable moments of connectedness.
As a funeral celebrant and as a Christian, my appreciation of the traditional church rituals has grown. Sometimes simple, sometimes profound, they always invite connection and reflection. Whatever our perspective on life and what we believe in, we humans are incurably ritualistic. If traditional rituals don’t meet our needs, we create new ones. Apparently, we can’t do without them.