Woman's 'beautiful' find on beach while grieving friend's death
A Queensland woman has shared the touching moment she found comfort in a painted rock while sitting on a beach after her friend’s funeral.
Julianne Crawford posted on social media that she found the rock after going to Sunshine Beach, near Noosa to “have a beer for her friend” following the service.
“As we sat on the rocks at the national park end of the beach, reflecting on our own lives as well as my friend's short 51 years, I looked down and saw this rock,” Ms Crawford wrote along with an image of a rock decorated with the words: ‘Love, peace and happiness’.
“If you painted this lovely rock, I want you to know that I decided to take this home with me,” she wrote, adding that she felt it was meant to be.
“I know it was put there for me to find and for this I'm very grateful,” Ms Crawford added.
Ms Crawford shared the message in a Noosa based Facebook group on Monday and said that she planned to give the rock to her late friend’s mother.
“I'm sort of feeling it may be what she needs to know he's still there with her,” she wrote.
Members of the group were touched by the woman’s story with many commenting on how “beautiful” her experience was.
“You were meant to find this beautiful stone,” one person wrote.
“It was put there for you to find, the universe works in unusual ways, sorry for your loss,” another person added.
“There are no coincidences,” another wrote.
Ms Crawford returned to the post to update the group on what she had done with the find.
“I gave the stone to my friend's mum. Tears were shed by both of us and she thinks that her son guided me to it.
“I told her that now she has something to remind her that he is always near. And when she is wanting to let it go, it is going to be given to his children.
“A beautiful and fitting home for a lovely heartfelt message in the shape of a stone,” she wrote.
Decorative rock part of inspiring movement
Several people responded writing that the decorative rock was part of a movement where people leave decorative rocks anonymously in public to be found or simply admired.
One Facebook group that participates in the movement, usually decorating rocks purchased from craft and hardware stores is The Abundant Love Project.
“It’s part of a kindness rocks project, you keep it or hide it... it’s the finder’s choice,” a person wrote.
‘It was meant for you’
Ms Crawford returned to the post on Wednesday to share that artist, Marty Foster, who decorated the stone had reached out to her after seeing her post and confirmed, it was meant to be found.
“Indeed it was meant for you,” the artist wrote, adding that knowing who had found the stone and how, had helped her as much as the woman who found it.
“I was recently wondering about my purpose, and now I am clear the little things I do like this are meaningful to others,” she added.
The artist invited Ms Crawford to come and chose another rock to keep for herself in memory of her friend, a gesture she described as “unconditional love at its finest and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.”
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