Sometimes the best “gifts” in life come from unexpected places when we least expect it – and when we receive such gifts, we feel renewed and our spirit gets the boost we longed for.  And if we are lucky, those “gifts” might even arrive on a special or memorable occasion.  (Though, the truth is, they probably occur all the time all around us… whether we take notice of them or not).  And sometimes, if we are really fortunate, just receiving such an unexpected “gift” of the type I am referring to just might restore our faith in miracles… in a world that so desperately needs them.

This page is devoted to one such “gift” that, in my heart, I believe was sent to me by my dear sweet pal, Molly, on my birthday this year (2010).  Overall, this year has been a very rough year for many reasons – too many to mention – and as my birthday was quickly approaching in May, I found myself missing Molly and her exuberant, joyful spirit.  At this point, it had been awhile since I felt Molly’s presence or had received any “signs” from her, which was bittersweet.  On the one hand, it actually made me sort of glad, as I hoped that was a sign that perhaps Molly had completely moved on to where she needed to be and was truly happy and enjoying herself rather than worrying about me – as that is what I ultimately want for her more than anything.  But on the other hand, I still missed her terribly and a small part of me wished she would stick around a little longer and continue to show me signs that she was still with me.  As I sat working on the computer on the evening before my birthday, my thoughts drifted and I began wondering whether I had heard the last from my beloved friend… that is, until I rejoin her someday.

As I sat there thinking of Molly, for some reason I kept seeing the same photo of her sniffing a red Christmas amaryllis flower in my head over and over again.  Why?  Why would I be seeing that image of her of all images?  I had no idea at the time.  Since the image was so persistent, I decided to dig through a file of photos I have of her online to find it.  Once I found it, I sat there smiling as I looked at it – remembering her sweet, gentle nature and how she loved to stop and sniff any pretty flower in her path.  It also brought a smile to my face remembering all the wonderful Christmases we spent together (including our last one), which were some of our favorite times and are memories that I truly cherish.  And before I knew it, I felt much better. 

The next day was my birthday.  My birthdays are pretty uneventful these days and I had nothing planned for the day – just a quiet day at home.  The morning of my birthday, I set out to do the usual chores around the house and I ventured down into the cluttered basement to empty the dehumidifiers .  And just as I was about to head back upstairs, something caught the corner of my eye in that dark basement.  I have an artificial Christmas tree with a realistic pine log trunk that stays assembled in the basement during the Christmas off-season.  Due to lack of space, the Christmas tree sits surrounded by spare garden pots and other gardening paraphernalia.  Well, as I walked by that undecorated Christmas tree, something bright red caught my eye beneath its bottom bough.  As, I knelt down to see what it was, I could hardly believe my eyes (I even went and flipped on all the basement lights just to be sure).  Here it was the end of May, and there beneath that Christmas tree was a beautiful red amaryllis plant in full bloom!  Now, I do store my old or out-of-season amaryllis bulbs down in the basement, but mind you this was a Christmas amaryllis that was blooming in May, and also one that had endured absolutely no water or sunlight possibly in years!

Once I got over the shock of finding such a wonderful, unexpected, and beautiful “gift” on what had so far been a pretty mundane day, I then tried to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the thing!  This amaryllis was huge! – and it would only grow bigger as the days went on!  The stem eventually reached a height of approximately 2 feet!  I have grown Christmas amaryllis for years, but I have never had one grow to such huge proportions before.  (Especially one that had received no care initially!)

In all, the amaryllis produced 3 beautiful and amazing blooms.

Blooms were shrinking at this point.

However, the blooms were so huge that even the 2 foot tall stem could not support the weight and bulkiness of the enormous blooms, and the plant had to eventually be propped up to keep it from falling over or breaking.

Holy Cow, Mom! This one is a real whopper!, thinks Kyleigh

Even Kyleigh was amazed by the sheer size of it.  

I wish I had photographed the amaryllis from a lower angle to capture the great height of it, as these photos make it look rather stunted.  And I wish I had photographed it as it grew bigger – as these are its early photos.  But I think the viewer can get the gest of it.

Nevertheless, even Kyleigh, who loves to lay beneath anything that resembles a tree, was a bit leery that it might topple over on her at any moment!  (And rightfully so).  Kyleigh stayed just long enough to take these photos, but then she decided she had seen enough and wasn't going to take any chances, and so she left to find a "safer" place to lounge.

(And except for when these photos were taken, the amaryllis was kept out of Kyleigh's reach anyway -- for those who wondered or were concerned).

Well, that amazing Christmas amaryllis that arrived unexpectedly on my birthday in May 2010 gave us about 2 weeks of enjoyment before we finally had to say good-bye to it and retire its pot back to the basement.  I have to admit, every once in awhile I do peek at its pot to see if my amaryllis visitor has mysteriously returned, but it hasn’t.  It came when it was supposed to come, and it came with an unmatched grandeur that it was meant to come with – and I will never forget it.  And I will always be convinced that my sweet Molly Girl sent it to me.  For why would the image of her sniffing the Christmas amaryllis persist in my head the night before my birthday (of all images of her)?  Molly knew I was missing her, and she above anyone else always had a special way of always knowing how to cheer me up when I was feeling blue.  Why should that change now?  And I tend not to believe much in coincidences.  I tend to believe more that things happen for a reason, even if we don’t understand the reason.  And I don’t think it was a coincidence that I had just been questioning whether or not Molly was still around (since I had not received a “sign” from her in awhile), and then I suddenly receive this amazing “sign” that is as blatant as a neon sign.  Some may disagree.  And I am sure it could be explained away.  But I choose to believe that it came from my dear, sweet Friend.   And if anyone could make this happen from The Beyond, it’s Molly – anyone who knew her loving heart would agree with that.

Thank You, Sugar Bear, for remembering my birthday and for letting me know that you are still with me in spirit even though we can no longer be together – and even though I might not always know you are there.  And I know it was no coincidence that you tied this “gift” in with a Christmas theme, as we always had such great fun together at Christmastime, and Christmas was the last holiday we shared together where you were still feeling good enough to have fun and enjoy it.  It’s been a rough year, Love Bug, so thank you for restoring my faith in “ordinary miracles”….. and also in the not-so-ordinary miracles too.  There is no doubt, you are truly one of God’s wonderful miracles, my friend.  

I Love You With All My Heart.

Your Old Pal,

Skye

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower,

our whole life would change."

~ (The Buddha)

"There are only two ways to live your life.
One is, as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is, as though everything is a miracle."

~ (Albert Einstein, 1879-1955)

"Sometimes what we believe as coincidence is really just getting ourselves caught in an angel booby trap."

~ (Grey Livingston)

"If I had a single flower for every time I think about you,

I could walk forever in my garden."

~ (Claudia Ghandi)

"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."

~ (Willa Cather)

UPDATE:   May 2011

Well, my birthday rolled around again, and once again I am surprised at how quickly time flies by.  As usual, my birthday was a pretty uneventful day, but throughout the day I kept thinking about the wonderful and surprising gift that I received the year before.  Of course, I could not help but wonder if perhaps there might be another surprise gift awaiting me in the dark recesses of the basement once again this year too.  But to be honest, I really doubted it though, as nothing like that had ever occurred prior to the year before.  But nevertheless, curiosity got the best of me and I just had to go down in the basement and check anyway, just for the fun of it.  To my surprise, there among the stacks of empty garden pots and the hanging dried flowers sat a lone Christmas amaryllis sprouting.  Now, I must note that I have a number of old potted amaryllis bulbs stored down in the basement, and the sprouting amaryllis that I discovered on this particular birthday (2011) is an entirely different amaryllis from the one that I discovered in bloom on my last birthday (2010).  Like before, it’s bulb had received no water or sunlight for several months, and it had been sitting dormant to await the next holiday season.  And like the year before, its pot had been stored beneath a Christmas tree.  But unlike last year, this time there was not a big showy Christmas amaryllis in full bloom awaiting me.  Instead, it was just a neglected, once dormant pot with just one single sprout in it -- and it was clear that it would not be developing into any flowers.  But nevertheless,  that single unexpected sprout (or leaf) that normally wouldn't have been there made me smile just the same.  I'd like to think that it was a little message from my Molly Girl (a whisper of sorts) reassuring me that she was still around and was still thinking of me -- and wishing me a Happy Birthday.

Thank you my sweet friend -- I Love You