The Story of the Purple (Blue) Hyacinths

My sister died last fall from complications due to ALS. At the funeral service, I placed a basket of purple hyacinth bulbs in the lobby of the mortuary with a note on each one asking the recipient to plant the bulb in the fall and remember my sister in the spring. When it was over there were three bulbs left and I planted them in my garden. This is a picture of one of them.

Purple was her favorite color and we all wore purple on the day that we honored her life.

One early morning last week when I was leaving for work, I noticed the hyacinths peeking out from beneath the snow. On the way into work, the song "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart began playing on the car radio. We played that song at my sister's funeral.

I definitely felt her presence that morning and it made me happy.

Six months since she left us...

Her Journey

Don’t think of her as gone away,
Her journey’s just begun.
Life holds so many facets,
This earth is only one.
Just think of her as resting
From the sorrow and the tears,
In a place of warmth and comfort,
Where there are no days and years.
Think how she must be wishing
That we could know today,
How nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.
And think of her as living
In the hearts of those she touched,
For nothing loved is ever lost,
And she was loved so much.

My Sister Died Today.

Her name was Toni and she died of ALS. I've never known life without her. I will miss her very much.

Wordless Wednesday