J has always been really close to his maternal grandmother. Everyone thinks their grandmother is a special lady, but J's grandma really was. Shortly after we began dating, I met this wonderful woman who would eventually become as much as a grandmother to me as any of my blood-related grandparents. This past April, we lost this amazing lady to cancer. As the weather grew more crisp this fall, and as the smell of chimney smoke wafted through the air, we worried about what this Christmas would be like without Grandma D here with us.
Grandma D was a lover of all things plant, her favorites being bonsais and orchids. When went to Louisiana for her funeral, all of those close to her selected a few of her precious plants to care for. We flew back solo, and J's parents brought back four healthy bonsais and two orchids for us via a rough two-day truck ride. The orchids were limp and wrinkled when they arrived, losing their beautiful flowers (among the last orchids Grandma D set her eyes on before falling into her eternal sleep) and we steeled ourselves for the worst. I enlisted the help of my mother, our resident "plant lady", who reluctantly performed triage on the dying plants. You see, while my mother has always kept orchids, none of them had bloomed in the last couple of years--she was doubtful she could do anything.
At the beginning of November, we noticed stems coming up from one of the plants. On Thanksgiving, one of the flowerbuds grew big and heavy, ready to bloom at any moment. Finally, on the first of December, the bud opened. Today, another flower bloomed. As you can see, there will be many more to come, just in time for Christmas.
Those who know me best know that I am not the most spiritual and am at best skeptical about the afterlife. I don't hope for or look for miracles. But this--this brings me some peace and comfort to know that in some way, Grandma D will be with us again this year for Christmas.
