A Christmas Lesson from my Sister, via Tulips

On Christmas Day this year my sister Janet & her husband David arrived with presents & tulips.  Without my niece Emily Kate or her fiancé Zach or the Douglas dog & my special friend, Ms. Zoe.

But my sister brought tulips.  Red tulip bulbs resting in water in a large cylinder vase.  The tulips were lovely, but the cylinder vase confused me.  I never put tulips, or blooming tulip bulbs in a cylinder vase.

Enthusiastically, my dear sister explained to me that the vase would prevent the tulips from bending to reach toward the sunlight.  

As I listened to her explain how to care for the bulbs (a tiny offshoot bulb caught her eye), I thought how she took time & care bringing them to me, knowing how much I love fresh flowers & color. 

It is what my sister does – giving me something that is so very Jaki Jean.

I did not have the heart or need to tell her that I have always loved how tulips bend & reach for the light, returning to home base when the light fades.

At first, I did not know what to think of the bending & reaching toward the light confined to a cylinder designed to keep them upright.

Day after day, I tended the tulip blooms bound in a cylinder, adding more water & turning the cylinder when the blossoms escaping the stems' confined space kept reaching toward the light.

I realized as I watched my red tulips that there is something to be said for standing tall, for working within boundaries & still managing to reach for the light. Without bending.

I am quite certain that no tulips I have purchased & placed in any vase have ever lasted as long as my sister’s gift.

As will my Christmas lesson – stand tall, bend & reach, but don’t get distracted from the goal by bending & reaching in too many directions.

That tiny offshoot & all the bulbs survived the cylinder.