Balloons and anniversaries

Ahh - rhubarb! A good sign - not only is Spring in the air, but rhubarb crumble is iminent. The ponies are in lighter weight rugs, the birds are chirping and the sun has been shining.

This week is a poignant one for me because on the 4th March, it would have been mine and Ian's 13th wedding anniversary. Four years ago, I experienced something which I will never forget. I want to share it with you because it was quite profound. Although many will argue it was a 'coincidence', I believe it shows there are things that exist, perhaps in another dimension, that we can't as yet explain - after all, many years ago didn't some 'plonker' once think that the earth was round?!

It was the first wedding anniversary following Ian's death and I decided that I wanted to watch our wedding video. I knew it would make me cry, but at the time that felt like a good thing. After re-living the events of that day, I noticed the light was beginning to fade and so I stood up to close the curtains. Something caught my eye and I held my breath. There, in the tree opposite my house, were two balloons, whose flights had clearly been curtailed by their streamers getting tangled in the branches. So what, I hear you say. They'd clearly 'escaped' from a party at the pub nextdoor. True - but the extraordinary thing about these balloons was their colours and their timing. One was ivory, the other was lilac. The colour scheme chosen for mine and Ian's wedding day.The next day they were still there but had started to deflate. I felt comforted by their presence - for me, that was a sign that I wasn't alone in the world.

Everyone thought that Ian and I were mad to get married in March - especially in Lancashire - a place not reknowned for it's sunshine! However, the day dawned crisp and bright, and now I am rather grateful that such a poignant day  falls at the start of my favourite season - a season of hope and new beginnings.