Planning AHEAD

Helen liked to be organised - but was this going too far? Helen, 42, Coffs Harbour, NSW*

-  JULES LEWICKI

By my late 30s, I'd already attended a few funerals for various relatives.

When my great-aunt Florence died, I told a friend how impressed I'd been by the service.

'Aunty Flo had chosen the music and requested people send money to a charity, rather than spend it on flowers,' I said. 'It's a shame more people don't decide what they want in advance.'

'You're so organised, I'm surprised you haven't got your funeral all worked out,' my mate laughed.

I laughed too - but it got me thinking. I may have only been 38, but why not plan ahead? The last thing I wanted was my husband or kids to have to worry about what I'd want for my final send-off.

Dan and I did have our wills written but there was much more to it than that.

So I started jotting down in a notebook things I liked or wasn't keen on at each funeral I attended.