I couldn't let the day go by without saying Happy Birthday to our sweet baby, Sarah! She would have been 22 this year and the second child of our family. After we lost her and I could get through most of my days without rebreaking my heart, our little family would walk through the woods leading the goats, dogs, cats, and without fail we would be accompanied by at least one butterfly who flitted up and down among the troop of us as if Tinkerbelle and the Lost Boys were on an adventure.
It made me smile. We took some pleasure and felt some peace to think Sarah was with us in each butterfly, traipsing through the woods along with her family as if it had always been that way and always would.
Even after our move to Florida, every trek through the great outdoors we looked for, found and smiled as one type of butterfly or another wove in and out, between and alongside our
growing family.
After menopause, evolution, an emptying nest, and trying to rediscover our married life, my therapist said to do something for me, something I enjoyed. I enjoy many passions; writing, sketching, painting, creating in general and plants. I recalled our many, many hikes and wonderful times outdoors and all the times our Sarah's joined us in the form of a butterfly's glorious wings.
With my love of plants and the outdoors, I dedicated my summer, knees and a rotator cuff to the beginning of Sarah's Oasis under the oak. A place of peace, wistful smiles, the sound of water from the fountain, the heavenly scents of gardenia, jasmine, wisteria, the gorgeous blending of texture and color, the sound of our finch, cardinals, jays, and various songbirds and maybe a nice glass of ice cold lemonade.
To our Sarah. Revel in each bloom, swim among the scents and dance with the breeze.