Dear Kaylee,
Today is your Great-Grandma Hanson’s birthday. She will receive flowers from Nana and me today. Irises. Her absolute favorites! My mommy used to have irises bordering our yard, irises at our cottage on the lake, irises at their townhouse after I moved- Irises and more irises.
They are beautiful flowers and when I see one I instantly think of my mommy. That’s how it is with beautiful things. Beauty always points us to something beyond ourselves. Flowers are amazing, because in every culture that is capable of growing flowers, they have grown flowers. Who doesn’t like flowers?
People are just like bees and bunnies. They looove flowers!
And how wonderful that flowers come in so many gorgeous shapes and sizes, and especially, O, the colors!
This is just another reason I know how much God loves us. God could have just given us drab looking plants, and there you have it. Instead God is a thoughtful artist who uses all the paints on his palette.
Hey, Kaylee, guess what is my favorite flower? Iris.
And one of the funny things that some men like grandpa like to say? We call the women we love, flowers. When you put a bunch of flowers together, it’s called a bouquet, so let me tell you about my bouquet.
My most special bouquet is centered around your Nana, the most precious flower, worth more than the rarest orchid in the world. Then there is the Kristina flower, who is the the woman I love more than anyone except your Nana. She has a strong stem, with the gentlest of petals. Your Great-Grandma Lindgren is in the bouquet because she loves me lots, and she raised your amazing Nana. Then surrounding the whole bouquet is irises, because my mommy showed me how much God loves me by just being my mommy.
“But, what about your Kaylee flower?” I can hear you say.
Well, because you are new in my life, I have to admit, I think about you more than any of my other flowers. So, for now, you are my little boutonnière, closest to my heart. The rest of the bouquet won’t get jealous, though, because…they feel the same way!
Love,
Grandpa
