My last post was in January – I spoke of all the things I would miss out on due to a holiday I would be taking though the months of February and March. I planted out the Dahlia I bought and gave last year’s ones to a friend. All of the wheels of life turn without us knowing what happens next.
The following week (before Saturday – I had promised to try and post every week) I received a phone call from my husband who was out of town to tell me that my father in law had slipped on ice and hit his head.
We flew to New York that afternoon and over the next two days said goodbye and laid him to rest. It was a shock to the whole family and I felt bad in layers as I had said it was too cold to go and visit with my toddler just two weeks before.
He was an amazing man always helping others and making people laugh however, now I finally sit down at the computer to write about this; I find there are no words to express the loss. I don’t think I can ever do him justice by describing his attributes without seeming trite.
The reason I write here about it in a gardening blog is that he was a great and avid gardener and we had a lot in common in that respect. He was a person who could pick up any musical instrument and be able to play (we did not have that in common) but was so humble as to claim he wasn’t that good as he could only improvise when it came to playing rather than follow music. He was humble as he was talented in all things, playing; painting; gardening and storytelling.
As we sort through the house; I have learnt so much more about him and saddens me even further that I will never get to sit and talk with him in the garden about old stories or funny anecdotes.
I could write forever about a man who could never be summed up in words but I think for the people who knew him they will know how I feel right now and for the people who don’t I hope that they have someone equally as special that they still are able to spend some time.
I brought back some plants from his garden to plant at home – they were not anything special and some people said I could just buy them anywhere. I like the idea that I can have them growing close to us and when I look out over the garden I will remember him the great man he was and the great garden he grew.
Tiny Urban Farmer 