Denise Jarvis Independent Civil Celebrant

28/09/2024

On a secret mission to deliver a big surprise 💕🌸🥂

23/09/2024

For anyone struggling today 💕

I couldn’t agree more.
Sometimes life is so challenging it can make you wonder what it’s all about 🤷🏼‍♀️

Hang on in there 🌸
###

06/09/2024

A wee bit of self care isn’t selfish.
You can’t pour from an empty cup 🌸

01/09/2024

This 🌸

I missed you quietly today. So quietly that no one noticed.

I missed you as I climbed out of bed and as I brushed my teeth; when I waited at the lights on the drive into work and as I heard the rain outside my window.

I missed you as I ordered lunch and as I kicked off my shoes when I got home; as I switched off the lights and climbed into bed for the night.

I missed you without tears or noise or fanfare.
But oh how I felt it.

I felt it in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening and at night. I felt it as I woke, as I waited, as I worked. I felt it at home, on the road, in the light, in the dark, in the rain.

I felt it in every one of those moments, each one sitting heavier and heavier as the weight of me missing you kept growing and growing.

Yes, I missed you so quietly today.

But I felt it so loudly.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2024
Beautiful artwork by Snehal Pendurkar

Sending my love to anyone missing someone quietly today 🤍

‘Quietly’ is a newer poem but there are similar in my book of grief and loss poetry https://amzn.eu/d/ePSd4yb

This is also available as a free download on my website, and as postcard prints and larger prints on my Etsy store.

09/08/2024

🌸

06/08/2024

From the wonderful Donna Ashworth.

Couldn’t agree more 🌸

CALL THEM CLOSE

By not saying a passed one’s name,
you’re not protecting the grieving,
from a wave of sadness…

Those waves are higher-ruled,
like the moon and the tides.

By withholding a lost one’s name,
you’re not saving the grieving,
from a sadness they had forgotten.

They never forget that.

Saying a name,
does something far more powerful,
than create more pain.

I believe it calls them,
from where they are.

I believe, it brings them,
into that moment.

I believe,
it fills the air with an energy,
that’s so very much full of them.

I believe, my friends,
that it keeps them with us.

And if there is a legacy in this life
then surely it is simply this.

So be brave,
call them close.
I think they would like that.

I think they’d like that, very much indeed.

Donna Ashworth

From Growing Brave

Beautiful art by Tracie Grimwood

You may pre-order growing brave here 🌱 https://www.waterstones.com/win/growing-brave-prize-draw

04/08/2024

Love this 🌸

In your life there will be things - people, places, experiences - that will still matter to you in ten, twenty, thirty years’ time.

And there will be things that won’t.

And people will tell you not to waste your time or energy on the things that won’t…
But how do you tell the difference?

Well, for the most part, you don’t.

So instead, you stop thinking about where you’ll be in the next decade or so and you spend time
with the people that matter,
in the places that matter,
having the experiences that matter
right now.

Because the things that matter to you right now are the things that can bring you joy.
Right now. Life is too short to gate keep our own happiness.

We don’t have to take absolutely everything in to the future with us. But let us take joy.

Because it matters now
and it will matter always.

So, let us take joy.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2024
Beautiful artwork by Cuadritos De Colores C.Morgan

30/07/2024

I love Donna Ashworth.
Her work is so heartfelt and current.
I use her poems lots in my services because I think they’re wonderful and poignant 🌸

It’s lovely to receive a compliment from someone and it’s even better to give one 💕🥰 👠 😉 xx

Today is International Day of Friendship 🫶🏻

I LOVE YOUR SHOES

I said your hair looked amazing but what I really wanted to say was…
“Your energy sparks a little bit of something in mine, your smile warms my heart, and when you laugh, I just have to laugh too, it’s like a bubbling stream of fresh water running through my soul. I feel like the sun is shining on me when you’re near and when I leave you, sad as it is, I feel like I’ve been charged, plugged into the mains for an infusion of fizz and life.”
But I said “I love your shoes,” instead.
I hope you heard, what I really meant.

Donna Ashworth
👠
From ‘I wish I knew’

This art is by Maren Devine who sadly passed away very recently, today is international day of friendship and I would like to take a moment to honour her wonderful life and work whilst respecting her family at this time ❤️


for women

28/07/2024

Love this 🌸

27/07/2024

Wee bit of local
Sponsorship at Airth Highland Games 🌸

25/07/2024

This week, I helped a lovely family say goodbye to a wonderful wife, mum and gran.
She loved travelling- especially to Florida, and she was so lucky to have the love of her life for over 70 years.

I’m always humbled when a family like what I’ve written about their loved one. It’s a honour and privilege to entrusted with precious stories and to share them with their family & friends.

It was such a lovely surprise to receive these lovely cards, gift and flowers today with such beautiful words inside.

Thank you to the M family 🌸

They’re your stories…I only tell them 🌸

21/07/2024

Yesterday I ventured to Glastonbury via Bristol Airport to witness the Ordination of class of 2024.

It was a lovely ceremony and I’m excited about my Ordination next year.
It will be the end of 2 years of hard work and dedication. Late nights, early mornings, weekends and not having full holidays.

I’m a great believer that things happen for a reason. Sometimes that reason remains a mystery.

I got a notification at 3am this morning that my 13:30 flight home was cancelled. My phone was on silent and I must’ve been in a deep sleep.

By the time I spotted it and tried to rebook my flight there were seats left on the 11:30 and the 19:45, the others were full.
By the time I ‘skipped’ every blasted extra EasyJet were trying to get me to add on, the 11:30 was full and my only option was the 19:45.

Worried if I went through the ‘change your flight for free’ option on the app again I just rebooked- I’ll worry about trying to get my refund later.

I’ve ended up having a lovely day with a leisurely bus ride of 2 hours through beautiful Somerset countryside I may never have seen for the princely sum of £2!

I waited at Bristol bus station for 10 minutes to catch the connection to the airport ✈️ …that was dearer - £9 🤣

My life is usually 100 miles an hour and I’ve been forced to take in the scenery, people watch and read my book.
A relaxing day I probably wouldn’t have had.

I could’ve chucked my toys out the pram and had a rant about it but would that have made any difference?
Would it have changed the situation? No, it would not.

So, when life gives you lemons 🍋…make lemonade 🧋😘

10/07/2024

Love this
. 🤦🏼‍♀️ 🌸

I met the moon for coffee
It was Friday night I think
When she watched me hardly sleeping
And invited me for drinks

We found ourselves a table
In the middle of the night
And the constellations twinkled
Like a thousand fairy lights

She asked me how I’d been
As she poured coffee from a pot
For she said she’d watched me
Waking up at midnight quite a lot

I said my brain was far too full
My mind was always on
And when I woke it felt as if
I was the only one

The only one who lay awake
Whilst I sat on my bed
With thoughts that raced at lightning speed
Around my busy head

The only one who watched the clock
Tick one and two and three
Who laid awake and worried
Whilst the world was fast asleep

My thoughts were stuck in orbit
And I couldn’t pull them back
As they preferred to swim against
A sky so vast and black

The moon said simply nothing
But she opened up a book
And I saw it was a diary
So I took a closer look

And listed there were names of people
All around the world
And all the thoughts and worries
That the moon had overheard

Just then, my eyes were drawn towards
The name that was my own
And that was when the moon said
“See, you shouldn’t feel alone”

And then she pulled me close
Using the night sky as a blanket
And said “I know you sometimes feel
So lonely on this planet

But when you cannot sleep,
Get up and watch me from your room
And you’ll see so many others
Having coffee with the moon”

********

Becky Hemsley 2022
Artwork created on Canva

Date Night is from my second collection https://a.co/d/eXEdgYT (and there are also prints of it on my Etsy store).

09/07/2024

Love this 🌸

YOU’RE NOT FOR EVERYONE

You’re not for everyone
but you are most definitely
for someone

and when you find yourself caught
in the trap of ‘people-pleasing’
remind yourself quickly
that you are ‘people’ too

and further refresh your memory
by recalling
that pleasing everyone
is not possible

it cannot be done
just like the sun cannot shine
on all faces at once

but when it does
when you are for someone
it is more than enough

you’re not for everyone
but it’s the ‘someones’
who matter most
the ‘someones’
who will breathe you new life
when your lungs forget how

love your ‘someones’
they’re the only ones
you need

Donna Ashworth

Delighted to say that the book this poem belongs to is now open for order ♥️

WILD HOPE: healing words to find light on dark days ♥️

https://amzn.eu/d/eDGFsCs

Art by The Ronald West Gallery

08/07/2024

Today I helped a family say goodbye to a much loved true gentleman 💙

He lived a life totally focused on his family and was the best Dad and Grandpa ever!

If Gran made soup for the grandchildren’s lunch and it was too hot, he’d take the bowls outside and walk around the garden with them until it cooled.

He was Dad and Grandpa’s taxi at T in The Park time where he’d bring a big light for the roof of his car so his daughter and granddaughters could see him easily.
Gran had made scones and brought their slippers and they’d coorey up in the back of the car on their way home.

This lovely family have experienced so much loss since April. C’s lovey wife M passed then and his family moved heaven and earth to get him to her service.

My heart hurt for him at M’s service which I was honoured to deliver and he very kindly asked for me in his funeral plan when his time came.

I’m truly honoured to have known this wonderful man- albeit briefly- and to have told a snippet of a wonderful life well lived.

I do wonder if they ever found Shank’s Pony 🐴…if you know you know 😉

Rest easy C…you were one of life’s good guys 💙

The greatest achievement in life is to love and to be loved. 💙

05/07/2024

Whether we believe in heaven or not ☁️
It’s bereaved parents month.
Our daughter Dani should have turned 20 today.
Sometimes life is cruel and it sucks 🥲
Bereavement- it’s the gift that keeps on giving 😥

Forever in my heart 💓

CHILDREN IN HEAVEN

I spoke to a robin
who visits my tree
I told him I thought
you were waiting for me
he shook his soft head
and much disagreed
‘the children in heaven
are happy, you see.

They know of no fear
they feel no regret
they spend the days wrapped
in a blissful forget.
they’re loved very much
by your ancestors all
and they run around playing
with sticks and a ball.

And the only time
children in heaven seem sad
is when they look down
on the life that they had
and the people they love
feel no longer alive
even though it’s not their time
to travel this side.

So chin up, said Robin
let no more tears fall
your child is quite free
with his sticks and his ball
and he's in no great rush
to see you just yet
you’ve life still to live
and more memories to get

And time may pass slowly
here on the ground
but in heaven it’s moments
and will quickly come round
so let the world turn
and let everything be
the children in heaven
are happy, you see’.

Donna Ashworth

Art by the wonderful Lisa Aisato (please do check out her amazing books)

(Dear all, I wrote written this poem to raise funds for The James Bulger Memorial Trust last year on the anniversary. Yesterday was Bereaved Parents day and this is bereaved parents month, my heart goes out to you all. )

From wild hope ❤️

UK: https://amzn.eu/d/eDGFsCs
US: https://a.co/d/h6FEaTv

Wild Hope: Healing Words to Find Light on Dark Days (Poetry Wisdom that Comforts, Guides, and Heals)

02/07/2024

Love this 🌸 x

26/06/2024

Yesterday we said goodbye to a much loved husband, dad, papa, brother, uncle & friend 💙

A hard working man who lived for his family.

So many people turned up to say goodbye which is testament to how much he was loved.

Rest easy J 💙

21/06/2024

So very true 🌸 x

18/06/2024

Today we said goodbye to an amazing man who was all for his family.

He loved bowling, photography and using his skills to photograph some amazing action shots of the bike racing 🏍️ at Knockhill.

He done so much for charity over the years including a parachute jump 🪂

He was the best husband, Dad and Papa you could wish for and he had the best laugh 😊

He lived a long and happy life, filled with love and laughter and taught much of Alloa to drive.

His send off was so fitting for a biker and I’m so honoured to have told his life story.

Ride off into the sunset M…you were one of life’s good guys 🏍️ ☁️ 🌈

* permission from the family to share this photo was given 🌸

03/06/2024

Love this 🌸 x

All that glitters is mostly hard-won. ♥️

https://donnaashworth.com/