One of the many remarkable things about Robyn was the way she wrote and organised her own farewell, even writing her own eulogy and leaving instructions and jobs for her family and friends to ensure they farewelled her in the most meaningful way possible.
Robyn’s daughter-in-law, Tina, shares some of the highlights of Robyn’s life and her farwell and explains why they chose Heavenly Catering’s Karin Slade to help organise and cater for Robyn’s wake.
Having the conversations that matter, long before you need to have them
Long before Robyn became ill, she was already planning her farewell and having the conversations that matter with her family.
“Everytime Robyn went away or overseas, she would say to us, ‘If anything happens I’ve left my eulogy and instructions in a certain place’,” says Tina.
“Robyn had her eulogy written years in advance, along with detailed instructions for her farewell, that she left in an envelope in a secure place, making sure that we always knew where to find that envelope.
“She also regularly updated her eulogy and instructions for her farewell as the years went on to ensure her family knew exactly what she wanted, all her friends were included and that there would be no misunderstanding over what was the right thing to do.
“Robyn’s level of organisation and commitment to making her eventual passing easier on her family included creating an index book with passwords and showing her husband, Brian, how to do the internet banking.
“There was a moment when she didn’t have long to live when we said we need to start thinking about the funeral, and Brian told us that it was already all organised, with Robyn having written letters to everyone who was involved, outlining exactly what they needed to do.
“Robyn’s gift to her family and friends was transparency and clarity, ensuring there was no confusion and taking away the stress of the many decisions that need to be made quickly once somebody dies.”
A celebration of a life well lived
Robyn fully planned and wrote out her celebration of life, making it so much easier for her family to adhere to her instructions and wishes and ensuring she could really “go her own way”.
There were 6 envelopes for different people, each designating a section of her celebration. One of these envelopes was for the fellow members of her netball team who received strict orders to wear a special outfit and carry out a ‘tribute song’ performance as decreed by ‘Mother Duck’ Robyn, which she used to join in when they were on tour.
Robyn even wrote her own ‘eulogy’, organising her family and friends and giving them all a job to do on this day.
All that was left to organise was the catering, which is where Heavenly Catering’s Karin Slade stepped in to help the family out.
Forward thinking and flexible
“Sadly, Robyn had never met Karin,” says Tina, “We were actually recommended the services of Heavenly Catering by the manager of the Avalon Bowling Club, which was the location for Robyn’s farewell.
“Right from the start, Karin was warm and invested and so great at what she does. It’s in her nature to go above and beyond – she really cares about people and she’s also a part of this community. Karin also knew a lot of the people at Robyn’s wake.
“Many of our family and friends work in hospitality so we had already organised a pizza van to cook pizzas on the site, however with such a large group of people we needed someone with expertise in organising events of this size so we could concentrate on farewelling Robyn.
“Karin said no to two other jobs to help us out at the last minute – she really went above and beyond right from our initial meeting.
“Karin was really forward thinking, nothing was too much trouble, nothing was overlooked and she really took away any stress on the day.
“Thanks to her expertise, she was able to guide us on things we might need, but you often overlook, such as bins for rubbish and napkins.
“In addition to catering for the fluctuating numbers, Karin also had all the equipment we needed to hire, even providing us with 150 wedding chairs and bar tables.”
Where there’s a will there’s a wake
“We were delighted to find out that Karin was on exactly the same page as us in regards to ‘going your own way’ and that she had recently written a book about this, called Where There’s a Will There’s a Wake.
“In a nice touch of synchronicity, Robyn’s favourite saying was actually ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’!
“Since Robyn’s farewell we have read Karin’s book and we are in total agreement with her suggestions for ways to create meaningful farewells and tips on how to organise your farewell in advance.
“It’s never too early to start having those conversations with your family and writing things down. We know from our personal experience what a difference it made for us all with Robyn organising her own eulogy and wake.
“Robyn’s farewell was a very personal and meaningful celebration of life thanks to her forward planning and courage to have the conversations we all need to have and the support of people like Karin Slade who has such a passion for helping people to go their own way.”
