The best birthday ever ... that I can remember ... was my 20th birthday and here's why:
Daisies.
Yup. My sophomore year of college, I had my own room on the same floor as my best friends'. I, being from a small town in Indiana and then living in the South, never locked my door. Seriously. If something got stolen (which it never did for real), I was going to be okay with that. And sometimes people needed things that I had when I was not around, so I just left my door unlocked. Of course, that is bound to lead to unexpected discoveries and practical jokes. More than once I returned to my room after class and opened the door to find Cary-from-down-the-hall asleep in the papasan chair. And whenever I would see that, I would smile and quietly close the door, puttering down to another friend's room. That was why I left my door unlocked. Cary needed a place that was clean and quiet ... a place to rest and retreat ... and I could offer that.
So on my 20th birthday, I went to class. And when I came back from class, I opened my door to find a veritable daisy explosion before my eyes. There had to be no less that two dozen vases of assorted shapes and sizes filled with handfuls of daisies. There were some actual vases and several makeshift ones as well ... emptied bottles of water, mostly.
Daisies are my very favorite flower. They are commonplace, unassuming, and yet, beautiful. I dare you not to smile when you come across daisies. [I don't actually dare you to do that, because if you happen to be able to, which is I'm sure possible, then 1. I lose and 2. that's really sad.] And there they were, everywhere I looked there was a vase of daisies clearly visible. There were so many vases that even a week later, I was still discovering new ones.
It's pretty simple. No rock climbing, or death defying, or expensive shopping trips. But I really felt loved that day, that moment, when I walked into my room and was greeted by a visible expression of my friends' care for me. They weren't even there when I found it, but they were at the same time. In each of those flowers, telling me a story of joy and leaving me a message of love.
Sometimes I forget that story, but I hope I keep remembering it at just the right time, so I remember how important life is. And how great people can be.
"I know the heart of Life is good."
-John Mayer
3 comments:
I love daisies too! I can't even imagine how cool that would be to have an explosion of daisies. Did you take any pictures?
I thought about this post yesterday when I was walking around my yard because I woke up to discover that my yard has surprised me with an explosion of tulips!! And maybe it's because I didn't know they were there (planted by previous homeowners) or because of our time in the Netherlands, or just because... but I decided that I love tulips a lot too. Maybe as much as daisies. They definitely made me smile all day!!
Amy! I'm so happy your yard exploded with tulips to greet you to your new home! It seems this is really the place your family was supposed to move to and they were ready to receive you! Hooray!
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