You might wonder why an empty bucket can bring tears to my eyes ... well it's not my bucket you see. It belonged to Claire, who was part of our family as my son's girlfriend. Her last Christmas was spent with us at a beachside town called Denmark in Western Australia.
The bucket still has the sand from the Southern Ocean in it ... and goodness knows we were totally covered in sand in every bodily crevice on Boxing Day when we went down there.
The wind was blowing so strong, but we were all determined to try out the beachy toys we had just gotten from Santa ... I love the smell inside the bucket, as it reminds me of the wind and the salt and the sea ...
Most of all it reminds me of the pixie girl who sat on the beach, wind tearing around her, determined to dig sand and make sandcastles ... while wearing a sombrero. You need to know Claire was tiny - short and sweet - and I swear she nearly blew half way to Antartica wearing that sombrero - just like the blow up boat we also took to the beach that day. Although she was 18, it was like watching a really determined two year old with her Christmas present ...
'Damn that hat Claire', I said to her at every given opportunity on our Christmas holiday together.
'Damn that Christmas, Pamela', Claire would retort ... and we would just grin and laugh.
It was only a year ago today that you died Claire ... but it feels like the longest damn year I ever had.
Whatever you do ... don't forget the love your 'new family' had for you. Goodness knows you won girl ... you got the 'number one girlfriend' place you always wanted! Competitive little pixie ... we miss you heaps.
6 comments:
My heart goes out to you. This is a very warm and touching post.
Mike
May the day pass with much love around you today ...
Thanks for dropping @ my site.
Thanks for stopping by my site. My heart goes out to you.
That's very sad, Pamela. But you remember Claire very well.
Thanks for the thoughts everyone!
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