Blossom Where You're Planted
By Cathy Collar
This Holiday Season, along with all
of the revelry and mayhem that comes with Thanksgiving, Christmas and the
beginning of the New Year came a very special gift tucked inside a very sad
moment. Right before Christmas one of my husbands’ cousins passed away. She and
my husband were not close, her family having moved far away from his, but she
was family. When we found out that her funeral would be held in her parent’s
hometown just a few miles away from us, we knew we must attend.
The service was very small and
personal. We suspected her family had probably given her a larger memorial
service in their hometown. After the beautiful music and eulogy, the preacher
came to the part of the funeral that to me is always the most important. The
life and family memories shared by her loved ones.
I sat there expecting the same
routine; hearing what a wonderful mother, grandmother and friend she had been.
Then it happened. This person that I had only met a few times in my life made an
impact on my life that I never expected. Her family shared her favorite saying:
four little words that I plan to implement to the best of my ability for the
rest of my life here on earth.
Blossom Where You’re Planted
These
words were uttered to her children whenever they complained to her that life
had not been fair to them. They whined that they were stuck in hopeless
situations that they could not possibly climb out of without help and of course
none of it was their doing. Mom place her best smile on her face and stated
these words and these words only, leaving her sulking child to ponder what on
earth she was talking about. Eventually they figured it out.
Blossom Where You’re Planted
The words kept repeating themselves in my mind throughout the rest of the ceremony. I began to ask myself, “What exactly did she mean? Were you just supposed to grow up and learn to deal with your situation like an adult? Quit the whining and be happy with what you have? Did she not expect them to try to better their situation?”
I must confess that my body went into automatic mode so that I said
the right words to the family that I didn’t know about their loss and gave the
appropriate hugs and condolences to those I faintly knew. The questions just
kept forming in my mind. “What did she mean?”
Blossom Where You’re Planted
I
thought, maybe this was a saying that had been past down on my husband’s side
of the family. I would ask him about it as soon as we were in the privacy of
our car and headed home which I did. He had never heard the saying before, but
yes it was a nice one. I could tell by his reply that he really wasn’t all that
interested in it so I let it go. I would ask his mother if she had heard it
before the next time we talked, since this cousin was from her side of the
family.
A
few days passed before I finally got to broach the question to my
mother-in-law. She thought it was a very interesting saying, but one she had
never heard before, so I was back to square one. What did the saying actually
mean? I sort of had an idea of what I thought it meant, but wasn’t quite sure,
so I did not bring the subject up again until after Christmas.
I
had decided that I would discuss it with my daughters. They both have very
strong opinions and are not afraid to let me know when they think I am wrong. I
guess they get that from me, maybe. Anyway, a few days after Christmas I shared
my new saying with both of them and asked them what they thought it meant. You
can imagine my surprise to hear them not only agree with each other, but also
with me on the true meaning of the statement.
Blossom Where You’re Planted
~ Make the best of every situation that you are placed into and learn from that experience. God has given you a brain and a heart. Use them both wisely and remember that he is always beside you whether you need a firm hand to help you up or a firm kick in the rear to get you going again. You can always count on him.~
So now I pass this gift on to you for the New Year. Please
remember that where there is Despair; there is Hope. Where there is Sorrow;
there is Laughter. And where there is God; there is Everything in Life that you
will Ever Need. May your New Year be a Blessed one and be sure every day
to
~ Blossom Where You’re Planted~
