This year has been a year of commemorations for the centenary of WW1, like everyone I was mesmerised by the outstanding art installation of those thousands of poppies cascading out of the Tower of London.
I ordered one and it arrived yesterday, I was a little disappointed that it was damaged and one petal had broken off, but then thought actually it was quite symbolic. Thousands of young men did not return home to loved ones, and those that did were forever damaged either physically or mentally.
So the damage has been repaired and it is standing proudly, nestled within one of my much loved plants, what an honour to be able to see it everyday and what it represents.
I was listening this morning to the story of the Christmas truce, on Christmas Eve in 1914 in the most desolate of places, in mud and grime waring factions decided to stand up in ‘no mans land’ and commenced singing carols, and the now famous football match took place.
Just for that short time, they were not at war with one another, they were young men, afraid and away from those they loved, not knowing if they would ever see home again.
I would never compare what happened on that Christmas Eve in that barren land to the place we all find ourselves in, there is absolutely no way we will ever fully understand the awfulness and horrific actions during that time.
What it does do, is to make me think.
Conflict will always come to an end.
At this Christmas time when we know we have many thousands of families fractured and broken due to conflict, we have to look within ourselves, we need to ask ourselves some difficult questions.
To mend anything that is broken we need to have two pieces brought together and gently glued together. It may not ever be perfect but it is together.
If you are a parent or in law who is causing this fracture please look to yourselves, you can put this right, you can put the past behind you, be in the present and look forward.
If you are a parent or grandparent who may have said something or done something that you now bitterly regret, it is never too late to say sorry.
Relationships are about compromising, agreeing to disagree, respecting each other and our differences.
Maybe we all need to stand up in a difficult place, to hold out a hand, to say sorry.
Jane