Thought for today:
"Did you know that flowers have meanings associated with them, and that during the late Victorian and the early 20th century, they were nothing less than floral letters. Flowers are a part of the most important occasions in our lives. They are conspicuously present on any occasion of celebration or remembrance.
I remember, Etta, a dear friend and mother substitute who lived to 94, and who treated me as the son she always wanted, but never had. During the last two weeks of her life, I remained in her home 24 hours daily. Each night and day during that last fortnight of her life. Etta's mind wandered in and out of the many years she had spent on this earth and the memories she had treasured since her late teens.
One night, three days before she died, Etta asked me to go to a Georgian book cabinet she had in her lounge and from one of the old books therein, retrieve for her an item she wished to hold once more. As requested I found the specific book she asked for and took it to her. She asked me to open the book to page 22. This was the age she was when she had first placed a daffodil inside.
The pressed daffodil had cost nothing and yet, to Etta, it was more precious than any amount of gold she could ever hold. As she was too weak to sit up at the time and was unable to even turn the pages, she asked me to look through the book until I came across pages 22 and 23, where between, I would find a pressed daffodil which she had put there during the Second World War years after her sweetheart soldier had died on the battlefields. I will never forget the fond and loving expression that crossed her face as she looked and tenderly felt the daffodil. It was as though she was caressing the bruised wings of a beautiful butterfly that had fallen to ground. This was followed by a look of remembered sadness across her face and the shedding of a few tears as she remembered, her soldier butterfly would never rise again.
Etta passed away a few days later, still holding the pressed daffodil which signified her greatest loss over sixty years earlier, and as her Power of Enduring Attorney, I ensured that she was buried with it. After Etta's funeral in the grounds of the Mirfield Methodist Chapel, where she had attended service for over 80 years, I looked up the choice of her flower which she had pressed to her heart before she inserted it within the leafs of an old Victorian book. Knowing what she had told me about her soldier sweetheart, I quickly realised the total appropriateness of her floral choice, the humble daffodil.
The reference book reminded me that the daffodil is usually one of the first floral gifts every child buys the mother they love on 'Mother's Day.' I also learned that the daffodil symbolises regard and chivalry; qualities Etta believed that her soldier sweetheart possessed in abundance. Daffodils are also indicative of rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life. A single daffodil is also thought to foretell a misfortune, whilst a bunch of daffodils symbolises joy and happiness.
Upon leaving to go to war, Etta's sweetheart soldier and she swore to marry upon his return. This was an event that sadly was never destined to be. Her parents had refused this marriage to take place prior to his departure and indeed, their letter correspondence took place in secret via the go-between address of her lifelong friend, Mary Milner. She was so frightened of her strict father discovering the clandestine relationship between his only daughter and a wartime private, that she destroyed his letters as soon as she'd read them.
After Etta's death, I'd been so moved by her tale of her soldier sweetheart and their planned marriage that wasn't meant to be, that I wrote a poem entitled, 'Arthur and Guinevere' which can be accessed through the link below.
Flowers possess a beauty that even the blind can see, the hopeful smell, the child excite and the romantic pleasurably press for future recall. Often, our finest flowers are like garden friends who are always there to support us during inclement times. It is frequently the most splendid flowers that bloom most beautiful and strongest from the experience of their darkest moments." William Forde: October 15th, 2016.
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"Did you know that flowers have meanings associated with them, and that during the late Victorian and the early 20th century, they were nothing less than floral letters. Flowers are a part of the most important occasions in our lives. They are conspicuously present on any occasion of celebration or remembrance.
I remember, Etta, a dear friend and mother substitute who lived to 94, and who treated me as the son she always wanted, but never had. During the last two weeks of her life, I remained in her home 24 hours daily. Each night and day during that last fortnight of her life. Etta's mind wandered in and out of the many years she had spent on this earth and the memories she had treasured since her late teens.
One night, three days before she died, Etta asked me to go to a Georgian book cabinet she had in her lounge and from one of the old books therein, retrieve for her an item she wished to hold once more. As requested I found the specific book she asked for and took it to her. She asked me to open the book to page 22. This was the age she was when she had first placed a daffodil inside.
The pressed daffodil had cost nothing and yet, to Etta, it was more precious than any amount of gold she could ever hold. As she was too weak to sit up at the time and was unable to even turn the pages, she asked me to look through the book until I came across pages 22 and 23, where between, I would find a pressed daffodil which she had put there during the Second World War years after her sweetheart soldier had died on the battlefields. I will never forget the fond and loving expression that crossed her face as she looked and tenderly felt the daffodil. It was as though she was caressing the bruised wings of a beautiful butterfly that had fallen to ground. This was followed by a look of remembered sadness across her face and the shedding of a few tears as she remembered, her soldier butterfly would never rise again.
Etta passed away a few days later, still holding the pressed daffodil which signified her greatest loss over sixty years earlier, and as her Power of Enduring Attorney, I ensured that she was buried with it. After Etta's funeral in the grounds of the Mirfield Methodist Chapel, where she had attended service for over 80 years, I looked up the choice of her flower which she had pressed to her heart before she inserted it within the leafs of an old Victorian book. Knowing what she had told me about her soldier sweetheart, I quickly realised the total appropriateness of her floral choice, the humble daffodil.
The reference book reminded me that the daffodil is usually one of the first floral gifts every child buys the mother they love on 'Mother's Day.' I also learned that the daffodil symbolises regard and chivalry; qualities Etta believed that her soldier sweetheart possessed in abundance. Daffodils are also indicative of rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life. A single daffodil is also thought to foretell a misfortune, whilst a bunch of daffodils symbolises joy and happiness.
Upon leaving to go to war, Etta's sweetheart soldier and she swore to marry upon his return. This was an event that sadly was never destined to be. Her parents had refused this marriage to take place prior to his departure and indeed, their letter correspondence took place in secret via the go-between address of her lifelong friend, Mary Milner. She was so frightened of her strict father discovering the clandestine relationship between his only daughter and a wartime private, that she destroyed his letters as soon as she'd read them.
After Etta's death, I'd been so moved by her tale of her soldier sweetheart and their planned marriage that wasn't meant to be, that I wrote a poem entitled, 'Arthur and Guinevere' which can be accessed through the link below.
Flowers possess a beauty that even the blind can see, the hopeful smell, the child excite and the romantic pleasurably press for future recall. Often, our finest flowers are like garden friends who are always there to support us during inclement times. It is frequently the most splendid flowers that bloom most beautiful and strongest from the experience of their darkest moments." William Forde: October 15th, 2016.
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