By Bruce Holland, Publisher
For a few years now my wife, Fe, and I have developed a bit of a tradition. As the summer begins to wane, and Fe heads back to teaching at Saint Mary’s University, she likes to go for a drive in search of wildflowers for her classroom and I like to go to the Holy Cross Cemetery to visit my Great, Great Grandfather and Grandmother, and trim back the bush that inevitably completely covers their headstone by this time of year.
Our search for wildflowers was very successful, having harvested numerous types of wildflowers from along the roadside and in a couple of parking lots as we drove around the Herring Cove Sambro Loop. Fe likes to put flowers in her classroom for her new international students to admire the first week of classes. For many, it is their first time in Canada and being away from home, so the flowers can be a bit of a delightful diversion as they get used to their new environment.
Upon visiting the cemetery, we had occasion to encounter and chat with two lovely ladies, who as it turned out, looked after the flowers in the cemetery. Came to fi nd out one of the ladies also worked at Saint Mary’s University and has since retired. While Fe and this lady reminisced about the University, I chatted with the other woman, who I found out was the sister of a classmate of mine at Atlantic Memorial School in Shad Bay, many, many years ago. They grew up in Prospect Village and I grew up in Shad Bay.
When the two ladies found out what Fe’s mission was that day, they insisted on adding an array of wildflowers from the garden to her cluster of other wildflowers. It made for a big, beautiful bouquet for the classroom.
A true story of how small a world we live in and how small acts of kindness can be so special!
