The River By Tom Percival

The River by Tom Percival

Our Baby Tilda died on the 2nd February 2013

The weeks and months after she died were so cold

Winter lasted longer than usual that year

On her first birthday

2nd May 2013

We took her ashes to Cornwall

We had booked a holiday there

On a farm with a river

David had built a wooden boat

To sail her ashes down the river

Over the sea to the sky

Baby Tilda was and is our star of the sea

Her middle name Mae

Means Star of the Sea

Now whenever we need to feel close to Tilda

We find water

A river, stream, lake, sea

We also feel her near us whenever it rains or snows

And when she paints the sky with a rainbow

Tom Percival’s latest book

The River
Resonates hugely with me

It is an incredibly powerful picture book

About love and loss

About grief and the big emotions that come with

Losing the ones we love

The story also shows how connected we are with nature

Rowan loves being outside

He loves the hills and trees

But most of all he loves the river

Rowan feels connected to the river

His feelings come and go

Like the water of the river ebbs and flows

Sometimes the river is quiet and calm

Just like Rowan

Sometimes the river roars with anger

Just like Rowan

Tom Percival uses the metaphor of the river

To show how our feelings are constantly changing

To show that whatever we feel is okay

It is part of who we are

One winter Rowan’s best dog friend dies

The river freezes over

Mirroring Rowan’s frozen heart

He does not know what to do or how to feel

Nothing and no one can help him

Though of course his parents try

Rowan tries to think of happier times

But it is just too hard

Even when spring arrives

The river stays frozen

And Rowan is still finding life without his pet very hard

One day Rowan finds an injured baby bird

A bundle of hope and joy all wrapped up in fluffy feathers

Rowan cares for the bird

And as the little bird heals

So too does Rowan’s heart

And the river begins to stir

When Rowan sets the bird free

The ice on the river begins to break

As Rowan learns to smile again

To laugh again

To love again

Rowan will not now live happily ever after

His feelings will come and go

Just like the water of the river ebbs and flows

Sometimes the river is quiet and calm

Just like Rowan

Sometimes the river roars with anger

Just like Rowan

And that is okay

Our feelings are constantly changing

Whatever we feel is okay

It is part of who we are

“Happy and light, slow and sad, wild and angry and everything in between.
…. The river was always changing. Just like Rowan.”

Just like all of us x

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