❤️My Valentine’s Day Gift to You❤️
A 2-Minute Coffee Break ☕ Today, I’m giving you a different kind of gift. A 2-minute story - a moment to pause, reflect and remember what truly matters. Take a breath. Grab a coffee. Read this. The Valentine’s Day That Changed Everything February 14th, 1990. A bitter, frosty morning. My father cycled the four-mile journey from Sandhurst to Wokingham in Surrey. Seventy kilometres away, in the next county, I stepped out of a florist near Oxford. A single red rose in hand. A gift for my boyfriend. I placed it on the driver’s seat of my DHL van. Turned the key. Nothing. Dead. I tried everything. Couriers know how to fix a van, but this time, nothing worked. Frustrated, I reached for the radio to call for help. Before I could speak, there was a knock on my window. I jumped. Then I saw him. My boyfriend. Too fast. Too soon. He worked the Reading route, not here. My mind raced. His car was parked behind me. Someone else was in the driver’s seat. “What are you doing here?” He didn’t answer. Just motioned for me to unlock the door. I refused. I didn't want him to see the gifts I'd just bought him. “Why is your car behind us? Who’s that in it?” Still no answer. He wasn’t laughing. Wasn’t joking. He just kept knocking. I unlocked the door. He slid into the seat beside me. “What is going on?” I was bemused. Silence. He just sat there. Waiting. Letting me talk. Letting me try to piece it together. Then he mouthed the words. “Kerry, it’s your dad.” I frowned. “He’s gone.” "What?" “They found him in his office.” "What?" “He was in his tracksuit.” "Don't be stupid." “He had a heart attack.” "Shut up." “His friend found him.” I hit him. I swore at him. I hit him again. I Screamed. Fell apart. The mechanic in his car checked my van. It started first time. No problem. Nothing wrong. Everything was wrong. I sat in my boyfriend’s car, speeding down the M4, staring at the road. White lines blurred past. My mind blurred with them. Jump. Dad’s gone. No point now.