My job as a lay celebrant is like a day of many colors, from dawn to dusk, from birth to the last breath of a life that’s coming to an end.

I emphasize commitment, empathy, sharing and emotion through the cycles of life, the last of which is its completion for the deceased.

The listening and homage I offer enable loved ones going through a painful period to live through a break-up with the support of kind words and understanding.

I like to commit myself to others and am considered flexible, reliable, responsible and creative.

I believe in the moment that gives density to the present, and I’d like to pass on this flame to the bereaved: every minute spent with the deceased gives life its flavor and its raison d’être, however fleeting it may be.

Ever since I was very young, I’ve been touched by life stories, which I later began to tell through storytelling or transcribe in my forty years as a speech therapist. I appreciate the use of storytelling and metaphor to convey an emotional message.

While speech can be threatening and confrontational, it can also be an agent of transformation. I believe in words that reassure, that allow a space for recognition and appeasement.

This is the path I propose you follow in a meeting that puts the life of the loved one at the heart of the story and the emotion.