An old client of mine that I haven't seen in about 2 years unexpectedly, and for no particular reason, recently dropped off a gift at work for me. I was touched, and honestly, quite flabbergasted when I saw it - let me tell you why…
It comes in a little 3-part story.
Part 1: About 3 months ago I bought myself a pot for a plant. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and had to have it even though I wasn’t looking for one. On it is written "Bloom", and I found it at a time when I needed a reminder to do just that. Since I bought it, it has been sitting in my kitchen, staring emptily at me. Just a few days before receiving my gift I was chatting to someone about needing to find a flowering plant to put in it, and how I had been looking but hadn't found the right one yet.
Part 2: The day before receiving my beautiful gift, my husband and I went for a walk on a gorgeous local forest trail, and as we breathed in the trees he mentioned that he could imagine living a life as a forester. We chatted about how my maternal grandfather had been a forester for many years, and how I always thought of him when walking in a forest. I’ve grieved him ever since he passed away when I was 16, and I’ve always felt that we had a very strong connection, both before and after his death. As I was thinking about him, I decided to invite my grandfather to join us in our walk. I do this occasionally with my grandmother and almost always feel her gentle presence with me. Just as soon as I thought of connecting with my grandfather’s spirit, my very next thought was about how it had been such a long time since his death, and about how I didn't feel like he'd show up because of that - that somehow our bond had fizzled out and been broken over the decades that had passed. I gave up and we continued.
Part 3: My grandfather, (I named him Bapa), had a very, very green thumb, and he took great pride in it. In fact, he was well-known for being able to get just about anything to grow, and friends and neighbours alike would often elicit his advice, which he gave generously. It was as much a part of his identity as his soapy Dettol smell, or eating rice and milk for breakfast, or the way he sneaked chocolate treats to his grandkids via the fairies. There was this one story though… A never-forgotten story about a plant that he gifted to some family friends, as he often did. This plant that never flowered though - no matter what he tried (and try he did!). I recall that he spent literally years attempting all sorts of plant remedies, but nothing worked, and the whole thing became somewhat of a frustration - and obsession - for him. The magical thing is that on the very day he died, that same plant flowered for the very first time.
Goosebumps, right? I’m not done yet…
That plant was an African Violet. These 3 things swirled together in my mind as I held the out-of-the-blue gift from my client…a gorgeous African Violet!
A beautiful, meaningful plant that is now sitting pretty in my Bloom pot, reminding me to trust in my knowing that there is no real separation between this Life and the next, that Love truly transcends time and space, that I am supported and loved. Always and forever.
Reminding me to bloom, like the African Violet I am.
