This all started with Val and Alice.

It was probably a Saturday in 2022, and I was definitely drifting through Balgay Park and cemetery with nowhere in particular to be.

I’m a sucker for a good view, and made a game out of testing each bench to see which one would become my bench – my go-to spot.

The day I found Val and Alice’s bench, on the eastern edge of the cemetery, it was hot and I was crying a bit. I had a horrible mix of sweat and tears in my eyes.

I don’t remember what had upset me, but suffice to say I was quite absorbed in my own sorrow as I sat down, so I didn’t notice the plaque straight away.

What I did notice was the view: a vista falling away from my feet, stretching all the way to Fife.

Tree branches framed a silver strip of the Tay as the sun blazed away in the bluest sky.

It was an utterly perfect spot. But it wasn’t mine.

The bench, I found, was already claimed: “In fond memory of........

© The Courier