My journey with grief
WOMAN'S OWN|June 15, 2020
It wasn’t until Lianna Champ experienced it herself, that she understood what it meant…
MISHAAL KHAN
My journey with grief

Standing at the podium, I look out at a sea of faces and prepare to speak, carefully choosing my words, conscious there are people present who’ve lost a loved one. ‘There’s no right or wrong way to grieve, and there are no set stages to follow,’ I say. It’s November 2019, and I’m giving a talk at a gala dinner, for hundreds of people from the local community. I’m a grief recovery specialist, funeral director and civil funeral celebrant, and frequently speak at events, sharing my knowledge and experience.

Since I was nine, I knew what I wanted to do. ‘I’m going to be an undertaker,’ I told my mum, Margaret, then 43. I’d never been to a funeral, I just knew that it was their job to help grieving families and support them through their sadness and loss, and that seemed like a kind thing to do. At school, I was teased in the playground: ‘Morticia! You want to work with dead people – that’s disgusting!’ they taunted.

At 15, I was still set on my chosen profession, but Mum, in a bid to put me off, rang the local funeral director and arranged a visit one Saturday in September 1979. I was taken straight into the mortuary, where I saw a dead body for the first time. I was fascinated as I watched the embalming process, firing questions and watching closely. By the end of the day, I was gloved up and assisting, and any efforts by Mum to discourage me had failed miserably.

In 1981, aged 17, I went for work experience at a local funeral parlour. Predominantly a man’s job, it wasn’t easy to convince the company to give me a chance, but seeing my determination, they created a youth training programme.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 15, 2020 من WOMAN'S OWN.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 15, 2020 من WOMAN'S OWN.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.