Sympathy Fruit Basket - The Perfect Way to Remember Dad

by Megan Fisher
(Virginia)

When my father passed away after a long illness I found it hard to remember the good times we had shared before he became sick. All around the house there were signs of his struggle with his illness, and the visual reminders made it difficult for me accept that he had moved on to a better place.

The one thing that made me feel better was looking at our old family photographs, especially the ones that pictured my father and I playing in the orchard of his family home when I was a child.

A few days after the funeral I was packing up my father’s things when I received a gift basket in the mail from his extended family. It was a beautiful wicker basket, full of fresh apples, pears and cheese. The card attached said, “A few of your father’s favorite things for his favorite daughter. All our love through this difficult time.”

The basket and the card reminded me of those wonderful times I had spent with my father and his family all those years ago.

The fruit and the cheese are now long gone. But I have placed a framed photograph of my father and I in the orchard inside that beautiful basket. Whenever I see it I am reminded of my father’s love, our amazing memories together, and my family’s kindness in my time of need.