Isis Despinidic - My Grandma

These are pictures of my grandmother Isis Despinidic, she was my Dad's mum. She died two weeks ago on Christmas day, we held her funeral today.

My grandparents are Greek and so my grandfather wanted her to be buried in the Greek Orthodox section of Rookwood Cemetery.
This meant she had a Greek Orthodox funeral followed by a memorial service at the Baptist church in Landilo, where she was a regular attender.

The GO ceremony was very formal, all the liturgy was sung by the Priest and another man (not sure what his formal title is). It was also mostly in Greek, although the priest translated some of the most important prayers etc. into English, his sermon was also in English as most people there were not Greek speakers.

It was rather strange as there was no sense of who grandma was at this service and no mention of her life, rather all the prayers were for God to look after her soul now that she was dead. At the end of the service family and friends walk to the coffin and say goodbye by kissing it or in their own way, then the coffin is carried to the graveside. Those attending the funeral follow the coffin and at the graveside there are more prayers and then the coffin is lowered into the grave and flowers and dirt are thrown into the grave.

The memorial service at the Baptist church was very different, it was all about celebrating grandma's life, how she affected the people around her, thanking God for her life and for the fact that she is now with Him.

It was great to hear the different stories of how Grandma has influenced her family and her friends at church. I realised that I really didn't know her very well, but I was proud to be her Granddaughter!

Please pray for my Grandpa, who has lost his wife of 56 years and for my Dad's family that they wll know God's comfort and love.