The lovely @ladiesofhive community is sponsoring a contest asking us to write about "the last time you got a gift of flowers, from whom, and for what occasion?" This is my entry, and I thank them for both the contest, and the chance to reminisce a bit.💜🌷
The last flowers I received came to me quite some time ago. I didn't even realize how long ago it was, until I went searching for the picture I took of them, shown above.
It's a beautiful bouquet, isn't it? And it was sent to me by a wonderful, wonderful lady, who has since crossed over to the other side. I still miss her. The stargazer lily in there was one of her favorite flowers. Her other favorites were daffodils, which she loved because they are always the first harbingers of springtime around these parts.
But the interesting thing isn't so much the flowers themselves, or even the lady who sent them to me. No. the interesting part of this tale is why she sent them to me.
The Backstory
The photo above was taken on May 16, 2017. The photo below is the card that came with the bouquet, which will still give you only a tiny hint as to the flowers' true meaning.
Yup, the sender of the flowers was my dear mother-in-law, Sandy. I actually lived in fear of this woman for the first couple years of my marriage, because my husband had had a falling out with her, and had made her out to be a Grade-A Bitch.
I don't know what happened between them to cause him so much animosity, but when I finally met the woman, she was never anything but kind and wonderful to me. We clicked immediately, and I loved her to pieces. We didn't get to see each other in person often, but we talked on the phone almost weekly, and since she didn't have internet at her house, she'd have me order things for her off Amazon and other sites, so that she could receive happy little packages every so often.
I'm glad this contest has given me a chance to reminisce about her a bit. Since her son is no longer in my life, and I try to think of him as little as possible, my mind doesn't wander to her that often.
So, were the flowers really just to thank you for being her daughter-in-law?
Nope.
As you've probably surmised, that marriage ended in divorce, and an unpleasant one at that. I won't go into details, but suffice to say he left me when I was at my lowest point (during a protracted illness that nearly took my life), and I had a long slog to claw my way back to self-sufficiency. The flowers arrived at some point after he'd left; I'm not even sure where we were in the divorce process at that point and I don't want to relive it by digging through my files for the paperwork to figure it out.
The best part, though...the flowers were, in her words (on the phone when I called to thank her for them), "to say I'm sorry my son is such an asshole." 😂
Gods I miss that woman! All the heart in the world, and a sense of humor too!
Image source: Canva
Of course, she didn't really take sides in the divorce. Couldn't, since she loved us both. But she cemented my loyalty to her by that simple gesture. I am so glad I got to keep this "second mom" (my own was already long gone by that point) for a couple more years before she went and joined my birth mother on the other side.
But flowers to apologize for your son being a dick? That's priceless. Miss and love you, Sandy! 💔❤️💛💚💙💜
Have a great day, y'all!
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.