Dean Family - Jarrod's Story - Year 8 - 2019

Every year since our Taylor passed away our family has purchased 100's of flowers and placed them on headstones at various cemeteries to commemorate their memory even though we didn't know them and Taylor's memory as well. We couldn't afford to go to the Desert every year and see him. Especially because those first couple years my income and stability were sparse at best. That was our way of coping every year as a family. It was bittersweet.

This year Victoria had a great idea. She said "You know what? Why don't we hand out flowers to people this year and honor the living too? Maybe if they are on the brink or in the dark and they wait just one more day things may be different. We'll call it waiting until tomorrow" I thought it was an excellent idea. Who knows right , a little joy inside a flower may change that.

So today we did this. The first woman I handed a flower to asked me what the occasion was. Now the idea was just to spread good will and not have everyone pity us. However, I felt compelled to tell her and unbelievably she says to me "today is my son's birthday, he passed away some years ago, I'll cherish this flower forever". Absolutely ruined me on the spot. I didn't know how to feel. What an amazing encounter.