Friday, May 14, 2010

TULIPS

Yellow tulips were taking over my flower garden.

They were showing up in places I KNOW I didn’t plant them. As lovely as they were; they were crowding out other flowers.

So last summer I dug up a couple of buckets full of yellow tulip bulbs and buried them on the canal bank across the street from our house.

Last fall, not long after my brother’s cancer diagnosis changed from hopeful to grim,

I planted a dozen pink “Plant for Hope” tulip bulbs in one vacated spot.

The pink tulips survived the long cold winter. Sadly he did not.
Sail on little brother.


I’d almost forgotten about the yellow tulip bulbs buried on the canal bank.

This spring, there they were.

They survived, untended, the long, dry summer and the deep harsh winter.


Last Sunday, Mothers’ Day, DH called me to the window. He pointed out a young man who had been hurrying his bicycle down the street.

He stopped, returned to the patch of yellow and gathered blossoms, then continued on.


We imagined a mother or young wife who would get fresh yellow flowers for Mothers’ Day. It made me smile.

7 comments:

Linda Sue said...

Hey these tulips are not superior quality plastic...they are , like, REAL! Love that you planted pink ones for your brother- he probably thinks "oh yeah, Great Sis, pink for eternity...how's that going to sit with all the blue angels..." Lovely thing to do and I hope that you will do the same for me...I prefer pink and purple- A friend filled his GF's pasture with dafodil bulbs without her knowing- in the spring her entire pasture was daffodils which she could see well from her kitchen window- how did he know that he would die in an airplane on his way to south america before they bloomed- surprise?

Jill said...

All tulips seems to revert to yellow or red eventually in my garden, or is it my imagination? Your brother's tulips are beautiful and a poignant memory. And what about your liberated yellow ones? How lovely that they will be spreading a bit of love too.

ELIZABETH said...

The pink tulips survived the long cold winter. Sadly he did not.
Sail on little brother.

Quiet tears on my side of the computer screen. Nothing better could have been done or said for/about a loved one.

Kilauea Poetry said...

I'm sorry about your brother, a younger brother? Sounds recent too?
Well these tulips are gorgeous and looks like you don't have any trouble with them- so they even pop up here and there..seem very hardy! That was cute about the man on the bike..I'm sure they were appreciated.
Anyway, hope you have a wonderful weekend!

susanna said...

Ohhh... I'm sorry to hear about your little brother. That's very sad.

It says alot about YOU that you were okay with a young man gathering up the yellow tulips. And not only were you okay with him doing that, you imagined the best scenario that would follow afterwards. :)

Anonymous said...

A poignant post - and nice to think that your yellow tulips brought a little happiness to a stranger!

Krista said...

So beautiful! I love pink tulips and wish that I could grow them, but truth is gardening is something I've never ventured. I'm scared of bugs....maybe one day! I'm sorry about your brother. That is a sweet thought to plant them for hope.