Losing someone is never easy, but having to say goodbye to somebody who has been such a central part of your life for so long is one of the most painful things a person can go through. Getting over it takes a lot of grieving, a lot of time, and a lot of resilience - but, even then, we never truly let go of those we care about most.
Indeed, even when people have lost loved ones from years - or maybe even decades - ago, they still like to do things to show that person they care.
So, when one person went to throw a rose in the lake in memory of their late husband, they were saddened to find that they could no longer access the spot on account of them being in a wheelchair. Instead of giving up on the task and turning back, however, they left a note in the hopes that someone else might be able to carry out the ritual for them.
Written on a piece of scrap paper and attached to the rose through one of its thorns, the note said:
"Please can someone throw this into the lake for me?
"My late husband's ashes are in the lake and I can't get to the lakeside in my wheelchair anymore + [the] gates are locked - have to drive back up north tonight. Thank you x"
The note was found by someone from Bishop Vesey's Grammar School Rowing Club in Birmingham, England, who then posted a picture of it to Twitter. But don't worry, they didn't just leave it there.
"This note was left on the gate at the water this afternoon," they wrote. "No name or number left but whoever you are, rest assured your rose is in place in the middle of the lake."
They also shared this picture of the rose, floating on the lake as the note-writer had intended:
The tweet, which was posted two days ago, on October 18th, very quickly went viral. At the time of writing, it has been retweeted more than 17,000 times, and favourited approximately 61,000 times. It is not yet clear whether the author of the note knows the outcome of their request - but the rest of the internet has made it known exactly how much they appreciate the Rowing Club member's gesture.
"I hope that this woman knows that her message went viral, and is being appreciated in the United States," wrote one person. "Love, condolences, and many thanks to the people who shared this bit of humanity. We are better people for sharing this."
"This touched my old heart," said another. "Just a wonderful thing to do for someone you’ll never know and I hope whomever this lady was she somehow finds out."
Meanwhile, others saw the tweet as a reminder that more spaces need to be made accessible for people with disabilities.
Either way, everyone is appreciative of the person who threw the rose into the lake, and simultaneously heartbroken for the person who left the note.
Whoever you are, we hope news of the rose reaches you, and that you feel the love from all the thousands of people who hear this story.
