This year the poppy stayed on
Yesterday, I finally removed the poppies from the lapels of my winter coat and my raincoat. I cannot remember ever keeping one this long. On the contrary, I usually go through several of them before Remembrance Day.
Over the years, I've tried various tricks to keep them from falling from the lapel and getting lost in a moment of inattention, through some form of jostling. I tried using a tiny earring stud to anchor the poppy through the centre, but that changed its appearance.
This year, I allowed the poppy sellers to demonstrate their expertise. They pushed the pin through the poppy and then back through the end of the petal. My poppies stayed on both coats till the end of November; I didn't have the heart to remove them.
Each Remembrance Day, I wear a poppy to honour my late father, a veteran of World War II. The end of November approached and the poppies still clung to my lapels. I had to remove them deliberately when I felt it was time to let them go.