Cemetery post boxes and leopard print bring remembering loved ones into modern age
Leopard print and post boxes for letters to heaven are two ways greeting cards are bringing marking the loss of a loved one into the modern age.
At Rosie Made A Thing, founder Rosie Harrison received a five-star review this week from a customer who has used one of her bestselling Gin & Frolics designs – “you’re never too old to throw on some leopard skin and be bloody fabulous” – to honour her 96-year-old mum at her funeral.
“She loved an animal print,” the review said. “As a remembrance, all who attended her funeral (celebration of life) wore animal print and the ladies who attended were given this coaster to think of her when resting their glass of wine. Fabulous xx”
And a very moved Rosie, whose sassy wit has put the Gin & Frolics range in the running for this year’s Henry Cole Classic award at The Henries, was so proud she posted the review and coaster on social media with the message: “I’m not crying. You’re crying. The loveliest review.”
In keeping with the theme of modern ways to remember people, there’s a growing trend of special post boxes being sited in crematoriums and cemeteries to take letters and cards to heaven – none are opened, they’re stored securely then turned into compost which is used in the memorial gardens.
Following on from the one which Royal Mail donated to Gedling Crematorium in Nottinghamshire last year, Bedford’s Norse Road Crematorium now has its own Post Box To Heaven, and one was installed at Ampthill Cemetery just a few weeks ago.
Ampthill Town Council said it was a “heart-warming initiative” by young residents Ava and Ella Cross who unveiled the white-painted post box to heaven, having written in “to ask if a special post box could be installed in the cemetery for people to send letters or cards to a loved one they have lost”.
Of the Bedford one, borough cllr Phillippa Martin-Moran-Bryant said: “It’s a touching and innovative way to help people cope with loss. It provides a physical outlet for emotions, allowing individuals to express their feelings and remember their loved ones in a personal and heartfelt manner.”
The faded GVIR post box is on one of the columns of the porch at the main office near a bench that overlooks the crematorium, providing a serene space for people to sit, reflect, and remember their loved ones after they have posted their card.
The original idea was unveiled early last year in the garden of remembrance at Gedling after nine-year-old Matilda Handy told mum Leanne she wanted to write to her grandparents who had passed away.
Leanne and Matilda have had lots of people saying want a good idea the post box, which has been painted white and gold, is and are hoping to do something similar.
Gedling Crematorium’s spokesperson said: “The post box enables people to write letters, cards and messages to those they have lost, and post them. That includes letters, postcards, birthday cards, anniversary cards, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards or Christmas cards – any simple written format you want it to be and regardless of when the loved one passed or where their funeral service took place. Our post box is available to anyone who feels they may benefit from it.”
Leanne explained: “Matilda was always saying she wished we could send Mamma and Grandad birthday and Christmas cards for them to read. She was four when my mum died, and never met my dad and wished we could still send them cards.
“I then saw an article in a newspaper about a postman who found a letter in a Leicester post box written by an eight-year-old to her father in Heaven and we thought that perhaps we could have a post box at the crematorium.”
