Fill the Frame

Today it seems appropriate to remember the other members of the families involved in the war. It was not just the soldiers who had to suffer. The ones left behind suffered too even if it was different, it was still painful. They had to try and come to terms with the fact that their loved ones would not return. They were the ones that could not put their arms around the frames of their loved ones. How many of them would have given all sorts of things to have that privilege again. Then there were those who cared for the soldiers who did return. Many of them were not recognisable as their bodies were so weak, thin and scared from battle. It took many months and sometimes years to get these men back to good health.

I’m only guessing here because the family didn’t discuss those days very often. I have to wonder if my grandfather’s gratitude to the nurses and doctors that worked so hard during the war gave his work as the local hospital gardener a little more significance. He was a good gardener and the hospital garden wasn’t the only garden that he attended to but I suspect that the hospital one was a just a little bit special.

It took a community to send these men to war and it took the whole country to help them recover. So today I will fill the frame with a photo of just one hospital and one gardener who came home to recover. He was able to have a family, see his grandchildren, even though I knew him when his frame was starting to become frail.

Age would not worry his mates left behind, they were in on more pain but I’m sure he remembered them every day. Let’s do the same!