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101 Word Short Stories

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Sending Flowers

August 25, 2024 18 Comments

By Deborah Sale-Butler

She died two thousand miles away during COVID. I could not visit the ward where she struggled for over a week to regain enough lung function to transfer to rehab. There wasn’t even a funeral. Too risky to get so many people together.

The night she died it was three hours earlier in my city. I watched the sunset and tried to send her a mental picture of it. Imagining she could see one last pretty thing.

It’s springtime now and everywhere I look, Mom’s favorite flowers. Peonies, lilacs, forsythia, and pansies whisper her last words to me: “I love you.”

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jake says

    August 25, 2024 at 8:56 am

    Wow. So much captured in so few words. Very well done.

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:55 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  2. Shanti Chandrasekhar says

    August 25, 2024 at 8:59 am

    Beautiful and moving at once!

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:56 pm

      I’m glad it touched you.

      Reply
  3. Cynthia Forbes says

    August 26, 2024 at 9:39 am

    A moving tribute. My mother also died during COVID without a funeral.

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:56 pm

      I’m sorry you had to go through that too.

      Reply
  4. Kim Moes says

    August 26, 2024 at 9:44 pm

    Beautiful, heartfelt, and heart wrenching.

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:56 pm

      Thank you, Kim.

      Reply
  5. Chelsea Allen says

    August 28, 2024 at 9:15 am

    So evocative, Deborah!

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:57 pm

      I’m glad you feel that way.

      Reply
  6. Gretchen says

    August 28, 2024 at 12:36 pm

    We joined you with this. Beautiful work Deborah!

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:57 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  7. Ed Kratz says

    August 28, 2024 at 1:10 pm

    Beautiful and truly moving.

    Reply
    • Deborah Sale-Butler says

      August 28, 2024 at 6:57 pm

      Thanks, Ed.

      Reply
  8. K F Lerner says

    August 28, 2024 at 3:02 pm

    This is relatable for too many people. I like the way that your title plays with the story. Well done.

    Reply
  9. Deborah Sale-Butler says

    August 28, 2024 at 6:58 pm

    I knew I wasn’t the only one. And I’m happy you liked the word play in the title.

    Reply
  10. Charlotte Bennardo says

    August 29, 2024 at 11:59 am

    So realistic, it hurts.

    Reply
  11. Marisa says

    September 7, 2024 at 9:39 pm

    My heart aches to hear this, and the love you both share forever also shines through. That love is FOREVER.

    I agree that you said so much with a few words. Well written; the feelings come through, of a love that is forever.

    Reply

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