 Do you have a particular flower that reminds you of someone you love? My friend Patty send me this photo of her artwork and the lilac in it made me think of my mother, and her mother, who I never got to meet.
When my mother was growing up she had five older brothers who were a lot older than her, and all of them served in the Army during WWII. This must have been incredibly difficult for my grandmother to cope with and my mother use to tell me stories of what it was like for to grow up with all her brothers in the war. She often told me how every spring she loved to play underneath a canopy of lilac trees growing in their garden, so I always assumed this was the reason that lilacs were my mother’s favorite flower. Every year on Mother’s Day, I’d send my mother a big bouquet of lilacs and once she told me a story that deeply touched my soul. One spring during WWII, my mother’s brother Frank came home on leave for a weekend, and they had a lovely visit before he returned for duty a few days later. Sadly a few weeks after that, my mother's brother Frank was killed in the war. Mother’s Day arrived shortly after Frank’s death and that year, my grandmother received a beautiful bouquet of flowers. They were delivered with a hand written note from Frank that said Happy Mother’s Day. Love, Frank. Frank must have gone to the local flower shop when he was home on leave and he wrote that note a few days before he died, never knowing it was the last gift he would give his mother, which was something my grandmother would treasure forever, as did my mother and now, so do I. Today, I think of my mother, grandmother and Uncle Frank whenever I see or smell a lilac. It reminds me of how important it is to reach out to those we love and let them know that their presence matters, no mater the distance, or the boundaries of time and space between us. They say violet colored lilacs are symbolic of the spiritual realms, and I can’t help but think that flower delivery was inspired by the wisdom of divine timing. Today, whenever I see a violet lilac it’s a beautiful reminder to me that we need to keep our hearts open to love and look for beauty even amidst our deepest pain and sorrow. If you are feeling alone and struggling with grief, I’d love to help you find comfort and support as you navigate through your pain, so please click on my Services page if you’d like to learn more about online counseling with me. On you are Instagram? Id’ love to connect if you follow me there @delighttheworld and if you'd like to keep reading more posts on my blog click here BLOG Comments are closed.
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