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 



13 comments:

  1. Absolutely understand this x

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    1. Out of everyone I know, I just knew you’d get this x

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  2. Divorce is a deliberate choice,so feels worse than bereavement because most people don't die on purpose, it's good Jim understood that and you..
    -Mary

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  3. 31 panes sold before our official opening on Saturday !!!

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  4. I get the feeling that you both benefited from that conversation. Good work on the pane sponsorship, too. xx

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  5. You have such special moments with people. They must all feel very safe with you. It's nice he appreciated and understood the powerful pain and loss from divorce. A special chat for you both.

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  6. There are incredibly sweet people that we are genuinely lucky to have even very short interactions with. You seem to be one of those and so does the man you write about. I always think of these moments as "sharing hearts."

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  7. You've had a very good day. Jim's happy to sponsor a pane and your exchange on loss was insightful and healing.

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  8. Married young - grew apart - loneliness in the same residence - Chilling x 🌀

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  9. Anonymous5:49 pm

    I love what Ms. Moon said about sharing hearts. You have such a generous one.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  10. Anonymous10:56 am

    That was beautiful. Spot on about divorce, too. I hope you can stay in touch with him, you're on the same wavelength. Jan xx

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  11. Such a beautiful post, the death and divorce is so true.

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