Another bereavement

I had felt that I did not have the heart to decorate this year, but today, my Christmas hairdo done, my presents all wrapped, and my youngest son coming to stay for the holiday, I decided that I would make the effort. The first decoration to go up every year was always this collection of red and silver baubles, which I put together myself, and which was my absolute favourite of all. The big balls, inherited from a much-loved aunt in 1981, were real glass ones, of which the larger measured almost 4” across.

Alas for the shaky hand of age, which made my aim unsure: the arrangement slipped from my fingers and crashed to the floor, with the result that you can imagine. I became transfixed as I waited to see if I could brush aside this new loss and move on, or if it would prove to be just one thing too many to bear. The idea of sharing here a picture from an earlier Christmas, has helped me over the worst, but I am still not sure how it will go.

How vulnerable we are to trivial losses when already weakened by significant ones.