A Thoughtful Gift

I share with you a picture of a surprise gift that I received today, which I very much appreciated.

It`s very rarely that I get given flowers, but the person who came to see me to do some work with me this afternoon knew that it was a poignant day in the year for me. It is 15 years since my Dad died. I found her gift so very cheering and thoughful, and especially so as it`s also a sad time of year for her. It was strange, but for the first time I found myself able to talk easily about some of the things that I`d kept to myself all those year. Not big things, but just silly sentimental things - like the fact that the hymn book I use was his, but that I`ve never moved the ribbon marker from the page that he last put it in.

It was so good to have someone who wasn`t afraid to talk about him. Why is it I wonder that people are (or seem to be) afraid to talk about a person who has died? It makes it seem as if they`d never existed. I am always so pleased when an odd (and I don`t mean odd in the peculiar sense of that word) person occasionally will say something like, "I remember your Dad" or "I remember when your Dad......." It`s comforting to know that others do recall him.

The beautiful chrysanthemums stand now in a vase on my desk beside me really appreciated.