Donate to charity

A school friend of mine died suddenly on 20 June at the age of 33. She was a special person and, while we had drifted into different lives in our twenties, I occasionally came across her in different contexts and still thought very highly of her. I was shocked to hear that she'd had a seizure of some sort and dropped dead; it just shouldn't happen at this age. But, for me, what strikes a chord most is that she had a 2 1/2 year old daughter, whom she adored, and a husband of ten years who will now be left to pick up the pieces with their child.

She was an early childhood teacher and always loved young children. She was also very active within her local Plunket society. It was no surprise then that her family requested: "In lieu of flowers, donations to Karori Plunket would be appreciated and may be left at the service".

I was out of town at the time of her funeral and was disappointed at not being able to make it. Other school friends had said they were going, and traditionally we would have pooled together to buy flowers on behalf of our group. I've been to so many funerals where churches and family homes are teeming with flowers, a beautiful reminder of life in times of sadness. But, in light of her request, I thought I'd donate to her nominated charity instead.

I've often wondered how many people actually follow through and donate what they would have spent on flowers? I've left small donations at funerals, and regular give small amounts to street collections, but now it was time to complete something else on my list of 101 goals: goal #63 - donate to charity. I'm sad that it came about in such circumstances, but am pleased that my donation is now even more meaningful as it was made in memory of a special person.