A drift away from the subject, but talk of the loss of a loved one always brings to mind an incident which happened when I took on a large (for me) electrical job when I lived in London.
I had contracted to re-wire and re-design the electrical installation of a large, empty, gloomy Norman Bates-ish type early Victorian house in Catford, a job which involved my working in semi-darkness for a considerable amount of time.
I had driven into the town centre with the owner to purchase light fittings and when we parked, she spotted the previous owner, an elderly lady who had occupied the house with her son for may years - it was the family home.
My customer was away for a while and when she returned she appeared somewhat flustered.
On enquiring how the son was, she received the reply, "He's in the car, would you like to say hello?".
They went off to the car, only to find it empty of occupants other than a funerary urn on the passenger seat.
Jim Carroll