Hanging in Barbara Harrop’s kitchen is a plaque that reads: “Life is a journey. Enjoy it.”
At 84-years-young, the Frankston grandmother has such a vibrant outlook on life that she has planned the same for her end-of-life journey, too.
She lists her greatest achievements as having a family – two boys and a girl, and three grandchildren – as well as owning a home and running a creative business that she really loved.
“I’ve enjoyed life just so much. I have a great time,” she said.
Despite being fit and healthy, the octogenarian has made the empowering step of arranging her own funeral with Bare – not that she’s planning on needing one anytime soon.
Barb’s wishes for a fabulous farewell are to have a champagne garden memorial, decorated with pale pink balloons, with her nearest and dearest gathered to remember all that was great about her life. And she’s already prepaid for her funeral.
“We used Bare funerals for my son-in-law’s mother, who died at 102. That went beautifully! So, I thought, ‘well I might as well pay for my own’.
“I was always stressed about having to pay for my funeral, but this was so easy and simple I didn’t even notice!” she laughed.
Barb encourages anyone in their golden years to think about their end-of-life wishes and plan ahead.
“Prepaying a funeral is a great idea because it’s all done, you know what it’s going to cost, you know what you’re going to do, and it’s out of the way,” she said.
“The people I dealt with [at Bare] were just lovely. So nice, and nothing was too much trouble.”
With her funeral taken care of, Barb can get back to enjoying life with her family, knowing she will get the going-away party she planned.
She shares her story in the below video.
Head to bare.com.au to get a quote or set up a prepaid funeral plan in less than five minutes, or give our prepaid concierge team a call on 1800 202 901.
