Dad

Why is it the the times you most feel the need to write that the words are the hardest to find. It was on Easter Sunday last year that I lost my dad. 

The memories of losing my mum back in 2002 are still far fresher than one would imagine and the responsibility of her funeral fell onto me all those years ago and so I am incredibly grateful to my sisters for making the funeral arrangements for our dad this time around. 

One of the things I remembered from before was the undertakers offering to take photos of the flowers - that proved to be a comfort in the months following and something I was able to share with relatives that couldn't make it. 

So this time I gave Miss T the task of taking her camera and taking some photos. 

I do believe that God shows comfort to us in meaningful ways that are so specific to each of us. For me, forget-me-nots have been my favourite flower for as long as I can remember. I used to love weaving them into my hair as a child. I loved how delicate and tiny each one was and yet together they were able to make a blanket of blue. I loved the magic of how sometimes you'd find the odd pink or purple forget-me-not instead of the usual blue.

And for Dad's funeral there was a beautiful sea of blue forget-me-nots filling the graveyard everywhere I looked. That proved to be so so special and a real comfort to me - as if God was whispering "I know" and "I'm with you".

Easter Sunday is an incredibly meaningful day for me too and so I don't think that was any coincidence either. It was the day I was baptised back in 2002. Whilst I think it would ordinarily be harder when it comes to the anniversaries of losing someone on a day when everyone else is celebrating - in this particular case I'm hopeful that it will make it easier for me knowing the importance of that day changing my life forever.