Story Archive

Death Takes a Holiday

Three-year-old Elsie-Mae Overend-Hogg and her siblings Isla, 5, and Teagan, 9, lost their grandma. Then they lost their grandpa. And soon they could lose their seats at school, warned a letter that the Ballifield Primary School in Sheffield, England, sent their parents. Because of regulations, the school only allows one day off for a funeral, and the Overend-Hoggs had attended not just their grandfather’s funeral, but also his wake the preceding day — plus they’d spent days traveling to do it. The letter “disgusted” their father, who pointed out that they hadn’t exactly taken a holiday. “It’s almost as if they are saying if you have to suffer the death of a grandparent, it should happen out of term time.” (AC/London Telegraph) ...Whoever wrote the regulations should try regulating death.