Today is Friday, October 10th, 2003; Karen's Korner #150

This is a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" which I received about three months ago in an email.

How often does something happen to us that we think we won't like, nearly speak up (or worse do say what we are thinking), only to have the outcome be different than we first anticipated?

 

The Wedding Gift
By Carol Sturgulewski

I had picked out the flowers in my wedding bouquet
carefully, with thought for the meaning of each one. There
was blue iris, my fiance's favorite flower; white roses,
symbolizing purity; and strands of green ivy, to represent
faithfulness.

Midway through our wedding reception, I found myself
breathless and happy, chatting with friends and juggling a
full champagne glass and my flowers. Suddenly, I felt a
hand on my shoulder. I turned to see a woman I had met
only briefly, a friend of my new mother-in-law. In her
hand, she held a tendril of ivy.

"This fell out of your bouquet when you were on the
dance floor," she said. I thanked her and began to reach
for it, when she added, "Do you mind if I keep it?"

I was startled at first. I hadn't even tossed my
bouquet yet. And I barely knew this woman. What did she
want with my ivy?

But then practicality kicked in. I was leaving on my
honeymoon in the morning and certainly wouldn't take the
bouquet along. I had no plans for preserving it. And I'd
been given so much today.

"Go ahead. Keep it," I said with a smile, and
congratulated myself for being gracious in the face of a
rather odd request. Then the music started up, and I
danced off in the crowd.

A few months later, the bell rang at our new home. I
opened the door to find that same stranger on my porch.
This time, I couldn't hide my surprise. I hadn't seen her
since the wedding. What was this all about?

"I have a wedding gift for you," she said, and held
out a small planter crowded with foliage. Suddenly, I
knew. "It's the ivy you dropped at your wedding," she
explained. "I took it home and made a cutting and planted
it for you."

Years ago, at her own wedding, someone had done the
same for her. "It's still growing, and I remember my
wedding day every time I see it," she said. "Now, I try to
plant some for other brides when I can."

I was speechless. All the quirky thoughts I'd had,
and what a beautiful gift I'd received!

My wedding ivy has thrived for many years, outliving
any other effort I made at indoor gardening. As the giver
predicted, a glance at the glossy green leaves brings back
memories of white lace and wedding vows. I treasure the
ivy's story and have shared it many times.

Now, nearly twenty years later, I'm the mother of
three growing sons. Someday they'll be married, I know.
And although I don't want to be an interfering in-law,
surely the mother of the groom can suggest that the bride's
bouquet contain a bit of ivy?

I know just the plant to cut it from.


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