The Joy of Flowers

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Today was a long day fraught with stress and sadness for me. Megan went for her treatments, the colonoscopy, and was confirmed to have another tumor, the results being forwarded immediately to Sloan Kettering.

While experiencing this via phone calls, I had to face 7 classes of teens, abuzz with the talk of the storm, and Valentine's Day. The seniors raise money by making cards and selling flowers, and today was delivery day as the impending snowday was threatening to botch things up.

We worked for a good month designing, producing, and then finally delivering them to students and faculty. This year I sent a card and a flower to quite a few to both my peers and my students in appreciation of their kindness and beauty of spirit, and a select few got a fabulous CD I had made. For perhaps the first time I felt the real spirit of love and showing one's appreciation for such a precious gift.

The upbeat energy of students who got flowers was wonderful. They liked the cards and the candy, but it is the beauty and symbol of the flower that they held onto. Someone had said they cared.

Later on, I got a delivery of orchids from Larry. Throaty rich magenta, so perfect that they looked artificial.

How could I be sad? Laughter, pride, kisses and thank yous in a sea of perky pink and passion red. Oh, and let's not forget the chocolate.

After work I took my carnations over to Megan. I have Valentine gifts for her, but wanted to give her the joy of flowers. She got off the couch and found a beer glass vase to proudly display them.

At home I played with Alanna and made a lovely dinner. She was mesmorized by the orchids so I had to give her one small little piece. She smiled radiantly, and, to tell you the truth, so did I.

Patti

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