Barbara Temperton #9 - Flowers, before

Detail from a damaged oil painting c2016 (Sun Princess, Princess Cruises)

Fresh flowers on special occasions: Dad loved them, but that last outside Christmas we argued when he wouldn’t have them in his house. “They make a mess!” It had been decades since anger tumbled between us. I wonder now what my father thought, when I left with the flowers, slammed the door. I should have stayed until he unwrapped his other gift, the vase.