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Planning
Letters of compassion
After Michael's death Kell and Susie went to Bali in early December
to seek some peace and spiritual solace. On their return Kell
continued to wade his way through a sea of letters that had arrived
since Michael's death. The loving response of INXS fans and the
public was overwhelming. One letter that had particularly taken
his attention, was from a minister, the Reverend Dennis Patterson.
Kell received a telephone call from the Pastor the day before
the funeral. Kell had expressed to him how comforting his words
were and so Kell requested that he fax them through to him. "It's
only by God's grace that we had Michael at all. Thank God for
the privilege of having Michael as a son for these past 37 years",
the Pastor had said.
Pastor Dennis Patterson had been a rock musician during the 70's
and 80's and so understood some of the pressures placed on oneself
and family. Just two weeks before Michael's death, Pastor Patterson
had lost a colleague and friend, a fellow minister who had booked
into a hotel and there taken his life. His friend had been prescribed
Prozac for deep depression. So Pastor Patterson had felt strongly
about writing to Kell, believing that the comfort God was giving
him was to be passed around. He had also known a lot about Michael
and INXS. In fact he had been a high school music teacher and
had taught music to at least two international rock stars who
knew Michael. He wrote to Kell saying he had followed INXS' career
with interest having appreciated their "legend status"
from when he was a supervisor of trainee music teachers at Killarney
Heights High, where Mike and Andrew first met. Kell decided to
give the Pastor a call and they subsequently set up a meeting.
Perhaps it was "meant to be", as had not the Pastor
been recovering from a dirt bike accident he would have been
away on family holidays and might never have received Kell's
call.
The planning of the ashes ceremony
When they did meet a few days later they discussed Michael, about
his boyhood days, when he and Rhett would have Kell drive them
to a paddock not far from the Pastor's office to ride their dirt
bikes. There was some mutual comforting and before Kell left
he asked Dennis to do conduct Michael's ashes ceremony. Though
he had previously asked the Dean of St Andrew's, he was now feeling
that he wanted Dennis to do it. When Kell learned that the Dean
would be on holidays and thus unavailable, he again approached
Pastor Dennis Patterson who now readily accepted. Over the coming
weeks Kell and the Pastor talked frequently as they planned the
ceremony. The question of the ashes became a very vexed subject
but in the end it was agreed by all parties that to overcome
any arguments the ashes would be divided into three each placed
in wooden urns and one each given to Kell and Rhett, his mother
Patricia and sister Tina, and another to Paula.
Kell was able at this time to bring strength to everyone. He
showed such courage in the patriarchal role, bringing together
as best he could the family, the guys in the band, the management
and road crew, and Michael's close friends, including Jimmy Barnes,
Michelle Bennett and Jenny Morris.
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