Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Daffodils

Back in January Little A's baby sitter offered me a mesh bag full of daffodil bulbs. "I won't be around this weekend to plant them," she explained, adding that she'd accidentally left the bulbs outside in a rainstorm and they were wet. Once wet, they would need to go in the ground almost immediately to have a good chance at sprouting in the spring.

I brought the bag home and put it down next to the orange tree, intending to plant them early the next morning. But it rained more, Little A went back in the hospital, and life turned into one big to-do list that kept increasing in size but never saw any items crossed off of it. I did not plant the daffodil bulbs. I did not even move the bag. But every time I set foot outside for the last six weeks, I saw it and felt regretful.

Then the doctor called with good news -- sweat test normal, no cystic fibrosis for Little A. I felt so relieved, so grateful. The ice jam of terror that left me suspended for so long broke apart. I could cry, I could think, I could live again. The next time I saw the bag in the backyard I resolved to throw it out.

When I picked the bag up, I saw the green fingers of stem pushing out from the gnarled fists of each bulb. Despite laying in the wet grass with no nourishment outside of the occasional rainstorm for so long, they had not rotted or frozen or withered. Every single one grew.

Thinking about toughness and luck, I planted them after all.



9 comments:

niobe said...

What a perfect story. And I'm glad you got good news about Little A.

Mama Marathon said...

Congratulations about your good news!

I plant bulbs every fall on the anniversary of my daughter's stillbirth. It's an act of faith to plant something that takes so many months to finally grow and bloom.

thrice said...

I love daffodils and I am so happy for Little A's CF results.

Julia said...

How very cool, on both counts.

There may be a sweat test in our future too-- husband has a serious CF mutation, and last December they found I have a minor one. Nobody seems to know what we might have if we pass both along, most think astma or lack of vas deference for a boy, but nobody really knows. My OB doesn't want to do an amnio if we don't intend to terminate, which we don't. So we wait, and I ask more questions and talk to more doctors.

Big, huge yay on little A's news! Yay!

Will you post pictures when "her" daffodils bloom?

Aurelia said...

Yayyyy, on the sweat test and I'm very admiring of your daffodils. I'll be cheating this year and planting full grown ones and pretending I had the energy last fall to plant bulbs. Bad me. ;)

Wabi said...

I will definitely post pics of the daffodils when they (hopefully) bloom, Julia. I put them in a place with poor drainage, which they technically shouldn't like. But given they were making a go of it in a plastic bag, I'm hopeful flowers will pop out soon regardless.

And Aurelia, planting daffs sounds like a nice chore for those boys of yours. (Unless they would be apt to hack them up in the process, like Big A was ...)

Ann said...

Sometimes, life does find a way. I try to remember that whenever I feel like new life can be a hopeless task to accomplish.

meg said...

Thank goodness for the results of the sweat test. Glad that Little A is o.k. So glad.

Lori said...

What a great story- with a happy ending. My favorite kind!

Grow daffodils, and you go Little A!!