| Many thanks to Lynda for providing her profile |
Narooma celebrant Lynda Ord
Appointed September 2006 |
About ten years ago we made the classic sea change decision to move to a beautiful coastal village after long and very rewarding careers as public servants. I wanted to do something worthwhile in my new community using the skills I had developed over the years - public speaking, writing, research - and more importantly drawing on my life experience for I have certainly earned all of my grey hairs! I had also had some disappointing experiences with funerals and, to a lesser degree, with weddings of family and friends.
I thought there had to be a better way or at least some choice. And so I became a celebrant and what a journey it has been. |
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Whilst waiting for registration as a marriage celebrant I started working with local funeral directors in late 2005 leading celebration of life services and I can't recall anything that has been so rewarding. As many of you will know being a funeral celebrant is a position of great trust and privilege as you work with families at the most vulnerable and sad time of their lives and, if you do your job well, you can help them through this terrible time.
You also get to hear the most remarkable stories of people's lives and this has led me into a real interest in preserving family stories. I now talk to local community groups about the importance of documenting these stories and I include family stories in the ceremonies I write for naming days: I have Rona to thank for inspiring me to do this through her wonderful publications and her practical advice.
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I was registered as a marriage celebrant in September 2006 and this has opened a whole new world to me. I've conducted weddings in some of the loveliest places along the Far South Coast and further afield and met some truly delightful people. To be able to share is such happy occasions is also a great privilege and so much fun! It's also something my husband and I do together as he works with me as my roadie and we've been to places we've never heard of before as we travel about the local area.
If I had to select a treasured moment to share with you where would I start? Would it be the older couple who have found love and companionship in the sunset years of their lives and who are very special to me because I led the funeral service for the groom's first wife and officiated as the bride's daughter's wedding? Perhaps its the lovely young woman whose first husband died tragically some time ago and for whom I led the funeral service. She called me recently to let me know that she is to remarry and wants me to share this happy day with her?
Please don't think that all my weddings are as a result of some earlier bereavement - my most recent bride was so excited she bounced up and down as she clutched her new husband's hand and we all smiled and laughed with her! One of my most treasured memories would be my own wedding late last year. Being on the other side of the marriage certificate was an amazing experience and yes I wrote our service! What made it even more memorable was having my good friend and mentor, Cathy Milliken, perform the ceremony for us.
Where will I be in five years? As parents and step-parents to five and grandparents to six, more and more of our time is spent enjoying the company of our kids and their kids and so I am now taking fewer wedding bookings and often the bookings that I take are for members of families I have worked with before. I'll still continue to perform funeral services for some time during the week days and my interest in preserving family stories is growing so I hope to involve myself more in these sorts of projects in my local communities. I hope to find time to do more volunteer work - at the moment I work with a NSW based animal charity and I tutor students with literacy problems and these activities are so complementary to my work as a celebrant. How many celebrants do you know who been asked if they are 'the doggie lady' after they've performed a wedding or funeral service???
No matter what the future holds I'm so very grateful for the opportunity to work as a celebrant and I know I have gained so much from the experience.
Lynda Ord
Marriage, Funeral and Family Celebrant
Kianga, via Narooma NSW
Servicing South Coast NSW
More about Lynda
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