My final gift to Mum

Flowers hold our joy, our sorrow and everything in between. I was both excited and heartbroken to pick flowers for Mum’s funeral to create a final, beautiful gift for her.

I’d looked forward to imagining the floral arrangement that would go on top of the casket. Yet, even though I was able to immerse myself in the process, waves of sadness would come over me throughout. I loved working on a creative piece for Mum, but then reality would hit me that the reason I’m doing it is because she’s not here. I miss sharing the beauty of flowers with Mum.

Flowers are around for life’s significant milestones- weddings, celebrations, moments of achievement, and goodbyes. They bring comfort when we are hurting and help us remember the good times. 

I put my hand up to sort the flowers, keen to choose blooms that represent her and ones she would have loved. Her favourite colour is purple, she adored anything that had a purple tone which was my main inspiration.

Our wonderful florist, Bek Novak, picked flowers with me from my mother-in-laws garden and added a few more blooms from local growers/markets that all worked together to bring my vision to life.

When I walked into the auditorium and up to the casket, I stood in front of the flowers. I noticed the roses, larkspur, cosmos, the daisies and with tears in my eyes, I thought: “they’re perfect”.

This experience reminds me that even in loss, there is beauty and comfort to be found. Flowers can help us feel connected and give us peace in times of sorrow.

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