Sheffield Botanical Gardens

I remembered his face, but not his name 

I had forgotten it a second after he told me.

I was wrong footed at the door what with the dogs barking and all.

So it took several minutes to restore order, quiet and peace.

I sat him on the couch , and I sat on the grey chair under the lamp 

He refused the offer of tea.

Albert walked through sniffing loudly before we cut to the chase

I will call him Jim 

Jim used to enter my flower show a decade ago 

He asked about the “ Sponsor a pane “ initiative for the hall, that’s why he was there

His partner had died four years ago now and he wanted to sponsor a pane in her memory

But they had lived almost 7 miles away so he wasn’t sure he could fit the criteria

I told him of course he could sponsor one.

He was so worried that he didn’t qualify 

We chatted

“ I miss her on Sunday’s the most “ he told me gently “ having breakfast which we made together listening to the radio “

“Cooking alongside someone without chatting “

I nodded and told him that I was divorced so understood a little tiny bit of what he described .and 

Jim surprised me by saying without any guile

“Oh Divorce can feel worse than a regular bereavement “ 

We talked about it for a while and I was oh so grateful for his insight and vindication , …he was divorced too

He booked a pane of glass in memory of  his partner 

And I told him the inspiration of the whole event was the fact that for his 31st birthday, many years ago,  I had sponsored a pane of glass in Sheffield’s newly revamped Botanical Gardens glass house Pavilion, for the Prof ….

“How Good Is That.” Jim said with a smile