I have tried to write these words before but the experience of my mother's death was too recent, the emotion was too strong to allow me to get past more than a few sentences. But it is Spring again, a second spring since my mother's death and I feel brave enough to try to put words on a page.

The daffodil outside my window encourages me. It is an elegant flower;my favourite, and its life and colour and promise bring a dash of brightness and cheer as Winter begins to pay its relucatant homage to Spring. Osterglocken is the German word for daffodils. It means Easter Bells, and it fits, giving those elegant precursors of hope and promise a religious meaning. New life in Spring, new life at Easter. And my thoughts are full of Easter and the assurance and hope it brings as I set out to write about my mother's death.