Elder Ashton Mayberry on the tropical islands of Fiji

I never, EVER thought that I would want to shop for fake, artificial flowers. I’ve never liked them. They aren’t real flowers. They’re…. fake. Fake flowers. I like REAL flowers.

Well… that’s  exactly what I’ve been doing… shopping for fake flowers.

Ashton’s headstone came with a vase and I want to put some flowers in it. I want tropical looking flowers. They are hard to find! I’ve only been to a few stores, but have not been successful in finding what I want. I want Fiji looking flowers, or even Hawaiian flowers, anything tropical looking. I will have to keep looking. If you know of somewhere I can get them… let me know.  I’m already thinking about what flowers I want to put in the vase for Easter.

Why do we put flowers on our loved ones grave? Why do we want to? What do the flowers symbolize?  Is it just a way to honor the dead and soften our grief? Is there something more to it?

This is new territory for me… having front row seats at a funeral, choosing a headstone, wanting to visit a cemetery, shopping for flowers that aren’t real, and even writing about it all and letting others read my personal thoughts. New territory…  A place I never imagined being in at this time in my life. Yet… I’m here… it’s here, and I have to embrace it. It’s my life right now. I really am a very private person, or I used to be. There’s been lots of changes for me and my family in the past year. I thank the Lord every day for the help, the guidance and love I feel from Him and those around me.  Huge family changes like ours require the same huge amount of love and care. I have felt that love and that caring… and… I have needed it.

Well… here I go… going to shop for fake flowers online. Wish me luck. Hopefully I can find some tropical ones.

New territory… that’s for sure!

Written by Faye