The Blue Hydrangea

For my grandmother's funeral, I ordered 2 blue hydrangeas to be placed around the casket during the funeral.  Initially they were dainty little white flowers, mine had 3 round bushes of blossoms about the size of a large baseball.  I was looking forward to planting it in my yard to commemorate all that my grandmother meant to me.

There was no special meaning in ordering those flowers...only that I remember liking them as a child.  My great grandmother had large hydrangea bushes in her front yard and we used to pick off the leaves and pretend they were taco shells.  They also have a gentle fragrance that can only be described as sweet and flowery.  I really just wanted a pretty blue flowering plant that wouldn't die immediately after the funeral.  Little did I know that the blue hydrangea would be a symbol of communication between my grandmother and I.

I often think of her and how much I miss her, especially when I'm in my moments of distress.  When I convince myself to stop fantasizing and break into the reality that she's gone, I see a blue hydrangea.  It's quite ironic, yet amazing.  Since I've been home from Miami this past week, I've seen one at bare minimum once a day.  On Wednesday, when I returned to work, there was a HUGE blue hydrangea bush in the lobby on the main desk.  On Thursday and Friday, I was driving and saw them in people's yards.  On Saturday, there was one in the bathroom at the spa.  Of course, Monday and today...I saw them while driving to various places around town.  I don't know how many times I've driven past some places, but I actually noticed the blue hydrangeas kinda peeking at me, wherever I went.

On Saturday when taking to one of the receptionists at the spa...I explained my giddiness over seeing those flowers every day.  She said that it's a gentle reminder that my grandmother is always with me, wherever I go, and wherever I am.  This may sound silly, but I am comforted when I see those flowers...it's almost supernatural to even consider that she's watching me and with me through her presence in those flowers.  Perhaps I'm just being nutty.

The irony is that the blue hydrangea that I brought back from the funeral has been drowning in the rain we've been having.  I pray that it recovers, and if not...perhaps it will grow next spring.  When I get back to Miami, I plan to purchase another one in a pot and try my best to take care of it so that I can plant it next to the one already in my yard.  One day, I hope to have a HUGE bush like my great grandmother's and perhaps my children will pick it's leaves and pretend they're taco shells.

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