The gift box sat under the Christmas tree. I knew it was an amaryllis but there was a memory attached that just would not surface. Oh well, memories slip in and out of my mind like a house cat nowadays, so I knew it would resurface soon.
But, there was still no recollection of it a week later when the box was opened and the water added and it was set on a shelf in the living room. Then it started to grow.
If you have never grown an amaryllis you have missed a mystical event. It grows about an inch a day and it doesn’t stop until over a foot high. Then the fun begins…a pod swells and begins to open and before your eyes, almost in fast-forward, the most beautiful flowers appear. It is a miracle.
So, as all these events happened I went about my daily routine until one morning when I walked into the living room and began to sneeze. “Oh no, not a cold” I said, “I just got over the flu.”
Then I remembered. I am allergic to the amaryllis blossoms.
I tried covering them in clear plastic, I tried cutting off the stamens and I even set it in the garage…and felt terrible about it.
Then I recalled that the lady in the condo across from my back deck, is at home, in bed with back surgery. My back windows look right through to her front windows, so I can see her TV and the shelves under the window. She has a hospital bed set up in the living room and has to stay in it for most of the day, and although she has family with her, I recall my days after my hip surgery…boring!
So I packed up my amaryllis and took it over to her. She was delighted and placed it on the shelves under the window. We had a little visit and I said my goodbyes.
The next day I looked across to her condo and I could see this tall, stately plant with three beautiful blooms, almost smiling at me. Perhaps a rose or a carnation I might have missed but that amaryllis was sharing its beauty from afar…and it was so lovely.
I couldn’t help but smile. It is hard to say goodbye to things…a spouse, a home, a job, even a beautiful plant but God always has a plan and today I am enjoying the amaryllis as much as if it was in my own living room…only right now I am not sneezing.
Photo: “Amaryllis belladonna 04” by KENPEI – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
