Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 3 months ago
A passion, but not for the faint hearted , this mother and daughter duo of Roxborough Tobago have turned their dreams into reality, assisting those who mourn their loss. Reporter Elizabeth Williams spoke to them at their business place in Scarborough and has this report.
Transcript
00:00Say in 2024, which was last year, when there was a ridiculously amount of crime in Tobago,
00:07we would have, I would say, 95% of those persons would have come to us,
00:12one, because they know we have the ability to meet their loved one in the midst of all that grief,
00:17because someone being murdered is a lot different from dying of natural causes.
00:21So in the midst of all that grief, persons come to us to give them that final peace of mind
00:27that their loved one would be looking of a certain standard.
00:32But why would two women want to get into the funeral home business?
00:36Started in 2023, manager of Divine Solace Funeral Home, Diane Deveens-Emtage,
00:43told TV6 News the reality today came as a vision.
00:48One day I was lying on my bed and it was like a vision.
00:51It was something that was ordained for us because I was lying on my bed
00:54and something that spoke to me. I wasn't dreaming, I wasn't sleeping.
00:57Going to our funeral home. And that is where the idea came from.
01:02The vision has now turned into a business and passion.
01:06The team at times helps families financially in some cases.
01:10I've cried in front of families many times in this office.
01:15I mean, I deal with it by knowing that at the end of it all,
01:19I am really going to do my best, whether it be to help that family financially,
01:24because we know not everyone is in a financial position.
01:27Sometimes we refer persons to a grief counsellor and we pay for it.
01:33In other instances, especially in the cases where persons would have lost their mom or dad,
01:38we would assist them when time comes to go back to school, give vouchers, hampers, all these things.
01:44So that helps me to manage the grief because I know at the end of this, we would be looking out for them.
01:52And with this passion, it has now become a family affair.
01:56I think what makes it easier, Liz, is the fact that we are a family-operated business.
02:02So aside from my mom and I, we have other family members who help the process
02:06and who make the process a lot easier.
02:09And I must say, being the face of the business, being the funeral director
02:12and the person that families interact with,
02:14just being able to help that person out of that difficult time.
02:18As a woman, yes, persons relate easier to me.
02:22Kids relate easier to me.
02:23So it fulfills my heart to know that I am making a change, as small as it may be.
02:29Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment