I have a little orchid on my windowsill, a plant that I admire for its tenacity and its reliability, as, for the fourth time, a spindly shoot gropes through the air, until it miraculously bears bloom in early April, the same time of year I received the plant as a gift.
The blooms come as banners of celebration, as emblems of resilience, and as reminders of the woman that gave the plant to me, a woman I’ll never forget, though I only knew her for five weeks.
‘Just leave the laundry here’, she said, ‘we have people for that’; it was her second trip, so she knew her way around.
It was she who said it wasn’t radiation; it was a getaway, a wild vacation for wild women like us who took our tops off daily to show our tattoos and catch some rays.
Her first time she had my kind; this, her second time, was different and she also did the chemo-cocktail cruise, her green Celtics cap a defiant and practical crown on her shorn scalp that cold winter.
When my vacation ended that spring she saw me off and gave me this little orchid, which I have kept alive as if her life depends on it; I tend the orchid, remembering that vacation time fondly for the experience and the people met and I hope they all are well.
The Six Sentence Story prompt word this week is vacation. I am looking forward to February vacation and remembering a special one four years ago. Go to Denise’s GirlieOntheEdge blog to link up your own six sentences and to read more responses to this prompt.
She had a nice attitude! And what a beautiful present!
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Attitude is everything and is contagious. It was a fine time.
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I try to be like her, most of the time I’m successful…
You both are the stuff that heroes are made of. Well done.
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Heroes? No. Just part of a small group of people who saw each other every morning for a while and who made “radiation vacation” more of a coffee klatsch than a trial of treatments. But yes, the giver of the orchid had a good attitude, and was a good mentor.
(See “For the Girls” in my publications for more.)
Thank you.
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A reminder of a good time to nurture . Good six
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Thanks.
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An interesting story, with an interesting angle 🙂
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It’s not much of a story, I didn’t feel like writing a story this week, but I had been thinking about the ‘radiation vacation’ and there was my orchid so… six sentences. Thanks!
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Yet it is a story… or a snip of a story 🙂
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Stroke of luck, twist of fate such a person crosses our path? They are the gifts that impact our lives in ways that others we may have known longer, have not.
Good Six.
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Seems anytime you are thrown together for a time with folks with similar stories you’ll find some with the goodness and strengths needed at the time. I learned so much from those daily travels and waiting for my turn with the radiation machine with her and the others. A positive experience that I’d never wish on anyone.
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That is a powerful story.
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The truth is, that orchid’s not much to look at much of the time but then it sends that stalk and I know the blooms are next, which last a long time. But that orchid is always beautiful.
Thank you.
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Nice.
Surely it is during times as inferred in your story that one’s character is revealed. And, its not only in reaction to a change/a situation/a threat, but, more importantly, in response to those close, that is where the soul shows.
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Nicely said.
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What an amazing attitude. I hope when, if, my time comes I can have such a positive attitude. To survive is what we crave. I too hope all are well and wish you continued health. Your book of poetry ‘For the Girls’ is perfect for reading after reading this post. I’m thinking maybe I should send my sister a copy. She’s just finished a year of ‘vacation’. We’re hoping the sailing is all clear from here.
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Norah! I do hope your sister is all set. I am, and my neighbor who I happened to vacation at the same time and place is, but because we were all on first name basis, I don’t know about the others I met. But the graduation gift, the orchid, continues to do its thing and is a reminder of good people getting through their tough time. I had it pretty easy but still learned a lot from that time, came out better for it because of the people I met all along the way. But I’m all set.
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