The Last Post - Sharing our Service with you

Music – Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros

We meet here today with hearts full of sorrow, as you come together to support Laura and Dan, to share some of their grief and sadness and most of all to pay tribute to the short but powerful life of beautiful Eleanor Florence Prince.

…A lily of a day

Is fairer far in May,

Although it fall and die that night,

It was the plant and flower of light.

Ellie has been such a shining light, a star in every way: she has shone across continents.

She has touched people’s lives, she has taught people the power of love and she has been loved.

My name is Jan, I’m from the British Humanist Association and I am here to try to help you to say your farewells in a loving and dignified way. The death of a child is so very hard to bear. Instinctively we know that death does not belong at the beginning of life – it belongs with age and weariness, with the closing of a book at the end of a story. It seems like a cruel breach of an unwritten rule when death takes away an innocent baby whose life had only just begun. You may ask what words of comfort or consolation can be found in these circumstances.  I can’t bring words to ease your pain, but I can tell you that grief goes hand in hand with love. The pain of losing Ellie is a measure of the love that had grown around her since Laura and Daniel first began to track her progress through the months of pregnancy and then through the 26 weeks of love, devotion, tenacity and clarity with which they parented their little girl.  Grief in its many guises – bewilderment, sorrow, hopelessness, guilt, anger – all must be allowed to run its course until, like a river, it empties into a calm sea of acceptance.  We have to feel our grief in order to heal.

Of course that acceptance never means forgetting. Humanists believe that what we do in this, the only life we can be sure of, is what makes us live on. Ellie will live on in the future of Dan and Laura’s life together, in the physical things that her fundraising will make possible, in the wonderful blog that has been created around her and in the hearts and minds of all of us who have been touched by her short and courageous life.

Each of you here today will have your own feelings of loss and sadness because Ellie is no longer alive, but your presence here helps to acknowledge and emphasise the value of her life, short as it has been.

Being Parents – Laura and Dan’s words

Being a parent is one of the most important jobs we will ever be called upon to do, although we are never quite prepared for what is expected of us.

In any other relationship we accept the need for some kind of declaration or commitment but we never make any such promises to our children.

We have invited you here to create a special memory and to make a promise to Eleanor that we will never forget her and she will always be in our hearts.

Celebrating Our Little Miss

Eleanor Florence Prince was born into this world a very wanted little girl. 

Eleanor was named meaning ‘shining light’ and Florence after her very special great grandmother who passed away before she was born.

Known now, as the infamous Little Miss Ellie, she has had a hard and short journey on earth, battling such a rare and cruel disorder. But through all this her courage and determination to stay with her adoring parents have helped create a strong legacy in her name. 

Although she has never been able to smile, her beautiful eyes and those long curly lashes have touched the heart of many; friends, family and strangers alike.

Poem Read by Harry

This place is full of people

Who have come to say goodbye

But no one wants to see you go

And we’re all left  asking why

In our pain and tears we share

A heartache that cannot heal

But in our minds we will keep

Memories that no one can steal

We can all feel your hands in ours

And see your loving face

You haven’t gone, we feel you here,

A love we can’t replace

You meant so much to each of us

And in our hearts you’ll always be

I hope you can see how precious you were

To them, to us, to me.

~~~

Your grief in losing Ellie is not just for what has passed, but for what could and indeed should have been in the future. Laura and Dan have been wonderful parents, many of you have seen the evidence of this day by day, week by week. Know this, little Eleanor Florence; you have been loved and will always be loved.

Dan and Lou’s promises to Ellie

We promise to remain positive in our determination to fight through our grief together and respect your memory.

To love each other and be together for the future in order to never let you be forgotten or replaced.

We will remember the good and the bad, the joy and the pain and always know that we did the absolute best we could for you our little girl.

We will remember that special moment you were born and we were just an ordinary family with an ordinary baby but also the times where everything changed and now, when we have become an extraordinary family with an extraordinary baby.

We will promise to remember the simple things too, your tiny fingers curled around ours, in our arms snoring gently, eyelashes flirting and your smiling eyes.

We will remember our beautiful little girl and think about just how much you changed our lives and made us better people by just being here, no matter how brief.

We will remember you, our daughter forever.

~~~

Let’s pause now to allow each of you to reflect on your thoughts of Ellie as we listen to more music that Dan and Laura have chosen.

Music – You are my Sunshine by Elizabeth Mitchell

It will soon be time for you to move on from here. Laura, Daniel and their closest family and friends will stay as we commit Ellie’s physical presence back to the earth, the earth, sky and universe into which she was born. Safe in the knowledge that all she has been to you will remain with you. At the end of the poem, again chosen by Ellie’s parents, I will say Ellie’s name and you are asked to respond.

Poem

These are my footprints,
so perfect and so small.
These tiny footprints
never touched the ground at all.
Not one tiny footprint,
for now I have wings.
These tiny footprints were meant
for other things.
You will hear my tiny footprints,
in the patter of the rain.
Gentle drops like angel's tears,
of joy and not from pain.
You will see my tiny footprints,
in each butterflies' lazy dance.
I'll let you know I'm with you,
if you just give me the chance.
You will see my tiny footprints,
in the rustle of the leaves.
I will whisper names into the wind,
and call each one that grieves.
Most of all, these tiny footprints,
are found on Mummy and Daddy's hearts.
'Cause even though I'm gone now,
We'll never truly part."

~~~

Please would you stand for Eleanor’s blessing.

Celebrant:  To Eleanor

All:  A Shining Light forever in our hearts.

~~~

Laura and Dan will be joining you soon at the Cricket Club, in the meantime you are invited to make your way there, where you well find a very needed cup of hot sweet tea to sustain you.

Laura and Dan are looking after each other. They will need your continuing love and support in the weeks, months and years to come. You being here to share in this ceremony will enhance your place as people who can offer them that support. Your presence here has had huge meaning and significance.

May you find comfort, richness and example in your memories and association with Ellie and her story. May you find support in your love for one another and may you find strength in your hearts.

 

Music – This Little Light of Mine by Elizabeth Mitchell

 

Words of Committal

Ellie’s memory is already committed, safe and warm in your hearts.

All that she has been to you and to the wider world that you have shared her with is committed safe to your minds.

So now, in sorrow and with much love, we commit baby Eleanor’s tiny body to become part of the earth, sky and universe that generates all life.

That into which she was born, she will remain forever part of.

Music – Lullaby by Newton Falkner

~~~

In love we shall keep the memory of Eleanor Florence Prince.

May peace, strength and understanding grow from this memory.

~~~

Thank You to Everyone - For Everything - For Always

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