Bubbles for Joe

This week  I wanted to share with you a story..

A story about loss, and of honouring, of memories and of new beginnings- it formed part of my work previously with loss and hospice care.


Bubbles for Joe.


"This is me, my name is Phillip, and it may seem quite strange to you that I am sharing this photograph with you, especially as I am blowing bubbles.

Why, you may ask?

Well this is my best friends garden, I come here a lot you know, here I can shout, stamp my feet, think, here I can remember.

Molly helped me find this place, I call it my safe place, she lets me call her Molly Moo.

I am 11 years old, my best friend, was, is 10, and I come to this garden to remember him, because he is not here anymore, he has died and it took me a long time to say the D word.

The bubbles you see, are for him, in each one is a message, sometimes I tell him about what I am doing at school, or about the horrible school dinners, or maybe I might just tell him I have a new football, or that I ate loads of popcorn at the Cinema.

Today I am sending him a message about the summer, how hot it has been, that I went to the beach and ate ice cream, and how much I miss him and wish he was here.

I have blown 8 bubbles, but if you look carefully you can see or imagine that there is 2 bubbles together , it looks like an upside down snowman.

That is a special one, that's only meant for me and Joe.



After these bubbles fly towards the sky, I am going to have a water fight in his garden with his brother, we are going to get soaked, so he will be able to see, even though he is not here with me.

I do feel sad sometimes, and cross, very cross, and I miss him.
Molly Moo says it is ok to feel those things, but I still like to laugh sometimes too, just like Joe and I did together.

Sometimes my tummy used to make really strange noises when I was sad, and it felt like a washing machine, with lots of things going round and round, but when I blow the bubbles, and send Joe the messages it helps to make me not so sad, and then things start to calm down.

Soon I am going to be moving house, and I wont be able to come to Joe's garden anymore.

But there are lots of hills where my new house will be, and I will always have the photograph to remind me of my safe place in my head.

My new garden is on top of the highest hill, and you can see for miles and miles across all the tree tops.



So I can go, and blow bubbles.

Bubbles for my best friend Joe, and I can remember all the times we laughed.

On days when I feel sad I can climb to the top of the hill, and a little part of me will always remember Joe's garden and the fantastic summers we had".

The End



Sian Spencer-Little