Mike's musings

Death

(backposting) About a month ago, the wife (Mo) of my incumbent (John) was diagnosed with aggressive liver and bowel cancer. It became clear a couple of weeks ago that the chemotherapy wasn't going to work, and they'd already ruled out surgery. Over the weekend, she'd moved into a hospice, and last night, around 1900, with John and her son at her bedside, she died in her sleep.

Mo was a vivacious, joy-filled woman who wouldn't let you get away with anything. She was challenging, and full of love, and was held in very high regard and affection within the parish. I've not been able to talk about her illness until now, really, as it's been a private affair, and I've known somewhat more about the progress of the disease than I've been able to share.

John has been brilliant, and the wider team and parish have supported him as best we can. I've been in London most of the day, but managed to pop in to see him, give him my love and assure him of my support this evening, before heading off to a supervision with Geoff, who's taken over the training role for the meantime.

The supervision was useful and interesting, and there was time for good reflection on some of the aspects of the Mo's illness and how it's affecting us all. A long day of honest work, crowned with the knowledge that I'll be able to make Mo's funeral, as I'm not in Finland next week.

Labels: death, funeral