OK, well, my first (Buddhist) answer was, "well honey, all things die - the flowers have had their time to bloom and be pretty, and their little life is over until next year."
"Have they gone to Heaven?" She then asked.
I told her that they probably didn't go to Heaven, because part of them was still alive underground - waiting for next Spring. It was more like going to sleep for a whole year.
"Are you going to die Daddy?"
"Yep. Sometime. Hopefully not for another 53 years though."
(I'm planning on living to be 100 - it's a nice round figure.)
And so the conversation went on - soon to drift back to evil fairy queens and princes with horses that talk.
But that naturally led me to think about the whole mortality thing, and how we cannot take the smallest thing for granted, because, truly, we really don't know when the end will come, do we?
I was going home from work in London one day and was trying to decide, take the tube from St James to Embankment and then main line from Charing Cross, or walk to Victoria and take the main line from there. I stood for about 5 minutes trying to decide, but in the end took the tube to Embankment.
When I got home I turned on the TV and there on the news, news flash, a bomb had detonated at Victoria station, many killed and injured...
So, my point is - be aware of your own mortality - I don't mean be morbid, wrap yourself in perpetual sorrow, constantly look for signs of your imminent demise - I mean just be aware that at some point, it'll happen. Hopefully not for many many years, but how would you feel if you have a tiff with your wife, son, daughter, husband, mother - and they take the mainline train from Victoria that day?
I watched Remember Me on Sky movies the other evening and was amazed at how it ended. It made me realise we should not take our lives for granted. Look for the good times in every day, leave the bad stuff behind, keep your disagreements short and don't part with loved ones in anger.
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