A regular Saturday morning in June.

The post arrived. A letter piqued our interest. Name and address handwritten on the front of the envelope. “Funeral Partners” printed on the envelope.

Bizarre. What could this be?

I opened it.

“Cremated remains of the Late: Jiya Kaur Mann”

The heading causing my heart to sink, my mind going into overdrive and a rush of memories flooding through my body.

Four years earlier we had Jiya’s funeral. A cremation. I remember on the day checking for the 50th time with the funeral directors about the ashes. We were told not to expect any and to say our final goodbye’s at the funeral. So, we did.

So you can imagine the sheer shock as we read this letter. “…the cremated remains of the above named deceased are being held in our safe keeping, we were wondering if you are in a position yet to make a final decision regarding them.”

A previous version of me would have gone ballistic at the funeral directors for not telling us sooner about Jiya’s ashes. How could it take four years for them to tell us?! While this thought crossed my mind. It was fleeting. I held no anger.

The new me smiled. A piece of my angel baby still exists on this earth! And while it may have been a shock, I welcome the revelation of the ashes. And I choose…

  • to receive this letter with love, not anger.
  • not to question that it took 4 years to arrive, but to be grateful that it did.
  • not to be upset by the harsh wording in the letter, but to smile seeing my baby’s name in print.
  • to see this as a sign, a gift, an opportunity to make a new memory with my angel baby and I cannot wait.

No matter what you are going through, may this be a reminder that mindset is everything…