14 DAY TRIAL // There have been many cases where widows or widowers refused to part with their soulmates and kept their bodies hidden in their houses or, in these particular cases, buried them in their own gardens.
Grief can act in weird ways, there have been cases where spouses slept with corpses in bed or kept them to mummify in their houses. Yet, when these kinds of love gestures involve garden graves, the question that comes to mind is what will happen with the body of the deceased one once the house is no longer in the belonging of their grieving family members.
Patricia Waters and Phillip Topham are two of the spouses who decided to honor their loved ones with a special burial place, their own gardens. The 81-year-old widow, Patricia, decided to bury her husband in the back garden of her home and when the priest was unable to officiate the ceremony, she carried it out herself.
Phillip, a 56-year-old widower, couldn't bear the thought of having his deceased wife away from him and arranged for her remains to rest in their home's front garden. Mr. Topham's wife died of cancer, just six weeks after their wedding. They had been a couple for 18 years, 14 of which they lived in the same house.
“I first saw something about home burials in a newspaper more than 20 years ago. Graveyards are so regimented and impersonal – so I thought wouldn't it be nice to be buried at home,” the 81-year-old widow tells Daily Mail. Her husband agreed with the idea and the woman feels better knowing that her life partner is resting in their garden.
Mr. Topham also consulted his wife before taking the decision of burying her in their front yard, and the woman didn't have any objections. “Our home was out little castle, we loved it here, there are a lot of memories, it may not have suited everyone, but it suited us. She is my sweetheart and I want her close to me always. I don't want her in a field with a load of strangers,” the man said, notes Daily Mail.
Not many people know, but in some places home burials are legal, the only request is that the police must be notified in advance, so that the love gestures won't be mistaken for crimes or similar actions.