My mother-in- law and the 'what-ifs'

What do you buy for the person who has everything that they want for Christmas?
One year I bought my mother- in- law a book of poetry. I don't know what possessed me to do that. I cannot even remember if I knew that she read poetry.

My mother-in - law liked books but she only had two shelves of them. Those books were very precious. Perhaps my father-in-law thought that buying books was too frivolous. My mother-in-law passed on her love for books to her son. Later today I will try to find this book of poetry. It was by Frank Topping, a Methodist minister who often spoke on the radio. It is either  in the 32 boxes of books that we have waiting to be unpacked or on the many shelves distributed around the house and filled in a very random order- the order in which they were found or fitted.

Iris' life was full of anxiety, "Be careful-  what-if..." were thoughts and words that were common to her. One poem met her where she was in her worry. It was something about a letter which might be bringing bad news fell through the front door onto the doormat. Letters meant anxiety. But Frank Toppings letter brought good news and relief.

Iris bemoaned the time and energy she had spent on worry, time when she could have enjoyed the present rather than be anxious about the future.

We had the poem read at her funeral.