A Perfect Day

One Perfect Day

I have taken my time deciding the final resting place for my husband Jamie's ashes.  Twelve months is as long as they should reside in my Walk in Robe where they have been since I brought them home. There were times over the past year when I felt Jamie gently chiding me for keeping him cooped up when his naturally gregarious nature made it essential that his final destination should be in a place where people gather and enjoy themselves.
Over summer the Australian cricketers have been playing against England for the Ashes.  My Jamie was always an avid cricket follower; and in all the 34 years that I knew him he never missed watching a game.  He was always fair and wanted the best team to win, although I'm sure that he secretly wanted the West Indies to win when they were playing.  As I followed the cricket this summer it evoked memories for me of times gone by and I began to wonder if perhaps we could steal into the WACA (Western Australian Cricket Association), grounds and surreptitiously spread Jamie' ashes on the cricket pitch.  Obviously this was not one of my best plans and I dismissed it.

Then a friend of ours from Guyana, Jamie's home country suggested I write to the WACA and as permission to spread the ashes on their grounds.  To my great surprise and delight I received a reply from the Acting Turf Manager saying, yes, they would be more than happy for me to spread Jamie's ashes in one of their rose gardens.

Finally the day arrived Tuesday 14th January. Helen who is the wife of the man who suggested I contact the WACA and I started off early in the morning for our trip to Perth and the cricket grounds.  The whole day was filled with so many miracle moments it took our breath away.  It was as if God was saying 'I have planned this day for the two of you'.
We didn't plan our journey, however as it turned out it could not have worked out better.  Helen drove us to the Train Station where we found plenty of parking space and were able to walk straight on to a waiting train.
On arrival in Perth we had time to enjoy a sumptuous meal at the David Jones Food Hall.  Not called food court because it's meant to be a little more upmarket.  It truly was upmarket with delightful food and a variety of choices.

When we arrived at the WACA we received a warm welcome from Ros, the Admin person extraordinaire.  Initially her plan had been to show us the Rose gardens and then leave us there as she had a Meeting to attend.  However, Ros willingly spent a longer time with us, showing us around the WACA grounds  and then to the Rose Gardens so we could choose the place we thought would best suit.  Ros even took photographs for us and then before she left she held up the Urn and said, 'we welcome James to the Rose Garden at the WACA'  This was so moving and totally unexpected.  We also met completely by accident, Matt the person who had initially responded to my email.  If we had been five minutes earlier or later we would have missed him.

The Rose Gardens are situated along the Player's Walking Path, which is used by the players to when they walk from their rooms to the cricket pitch for practice.  There was a gentle breeze and it seemed to carry with it the whispering of bygone days and yet a whisper of the future and hope.  On T.V. they often show this part of the Gardens when the Commentators are doing interviews and in the background can be seen the cricketers at play.

Helen and I found a lovely red rose bush, knowing that Jamie loved his red roses.  Then I noticed a yellow rose bush in full bloom.  I remembered that Jamie loved the song 'Eighteen Yellow Roses' and had his Carer's play it often.  So Helen and I decided that it should be the red and yellow rose bush where we finally laid the ashes and Jamie to rest.

I dug a hole with a spoon I had brought from home and placed the ashes there.  As I dug I thought I could perhaps have been dressed more appropriately for digging holes and pouring in ashes with a soup spoon. Still, I felt a sense of peace and felt that somehow Jamie knew what we were doing and was happy.  He was in a place where people gathered and enjoyed themselves and where cricketers would be walking past every time they had a game on.
When we left the Grounds we walked toward a bus stop and found the Bus Driver was waiting for us having seen us walking toward him.

Once we arrived in Perth we found we were unable to go the normal way to reach our train station.  It had been blocked off because they are making changes to the Underground, so we had to turn into WILLIAM STREET and passed JAMIE OLIVER'S Restaurant, this wouldn't have happened had we been able to go the usual way to the station.  Was this serendipity, to be reminded of our Jamie Oliver WILIAMS we are not sure, but both Helen and I felt that Jamie was approving our venture and we were both so filled with wonder and delight with what this perfect day have presented to us.
Helen reminded me that today was the birthday of another Jamie she knows so she will never forget this date.  She is also a great Mahjong player and I don't think she ever missed her weekly game and yet she willingly gave that up to come with me to the WACA.

Today was a day of reminiscing peppered with plenty of laughter and enjoying true friendship. I will remember it as a time when we finally placed Jamie's ashes in a place he loved.  With so many incidents that happened during the day we could almost imagine him with his cheeky grin saying, 'Well done girls, I'm proud of you.'
Tonight I received an online magazine and the title of one of the issues was WHO WILL SCATTER YOUR ASHES.  I can only hope that whoever that will be feels some of what this glorious day has been for us.