Can’t pictures be powerful…
This one from 2015 popped up on my timeline recently, how can this be seven years ago? The summer before I lost my Dad to cancer.
It’s immediately took me back to a warm summer day sitting in my back garden on the decking he’d had laid for me. The sheds were looking tatty and I need cheering up so I decided they needed some TLC . Off to B&Q I went. The beach hut design was very much with a purpose in mind. If you look very closely you’ll see three numbers on the apex of each one. A 30, an 11 & 42. They were random to others but they were in fact my Dad’s date of birth.Each one of my sons chose a number and we proudly placed them on their sheds.
The blue and white shed has been a playhouse when my boys were younger bought one Christmas by my parents.
The three of them had spent many happy hours in there.
The yellow one, a rabbit hutch for a furry pet they also bought for my youngest son.
Dad always loved to be doing something in his shed. Mum despaired of it, always so cluttered and full of “just in case” stuff a.k.a. crap! But you know what, when you needed a bit of wood or a certain tool dad always had it.
It felt very fitting and very comforting as well as purposeful to paint those sheds that summer. Both my parents were very practical and many skills I have are thanks to them. So not only did I have a colourful corner to enjoy , it made me smile knowing they would’ve approved.
We moved from that house four years ago after living there for 24 years . It was the very week we lost my mum and my only regret was leaving those sheds behind. The rest was just bricks and mortar, some happy memories some not so happy.
Our new house has been a fresh start for us. We were married in 2020 and this is our forever home. We’ve renovated it with the help of Mum & Dad in the form of my inheritance and I know they would be very proud of what we’ve achieved.
Dotted around the house as well as memory furniture I’ve refinished we have a lots of little mementoes. Believe it or not I’m not big on Photos despite having thousands on my phone I
don’t have them around the house. But Dad’s old flat cap and Mum’s sewing basket are amongst the mementoes I hold dear and have displayed. I smile when I see you then.
When we lose loved ones it’s impossible to hold onto everything. It can be difficult letting go but we must. Being able to gift them to others or donate to good causes helps. Knowing that they’ve been reused and reloved feels good.
FMN or Forget Me Not doesn’t have to be furniture, it can be a shed, sewing box or a fishing basket for example. I know not everyone has the time or inclination to refinish or a purpose it themselves. That’s how and why my FMN furniture business began. I am your furniture angel.
No one can take away that summer day in 2015 when I painted those sheds, the happiness it brought me and the seeds it set for my future to get me where I am today. That summer I realise life is for living and to always go with our hearts ,follow our dreams. Do what you love.