There is a very tall, beautiful tree in my front yard. I can see it from both my living room and bedroom windows. When it first blooms in early spring, the leaves are white, and then they morph into a green that deepens as the year goes on until they drop in late fall.
The night my Mother died, every leaf on that tree fell to the ground, making the front lawn look like a beautiful white blanket.
One of my friends shared with me that in the South, they call that occurrence a petal shower. She explained, “the way is being laid for beauty.” Then it all made sense to me. For my Mother was beautiful inside and out, and even in death, beauty surrounded her.
While I am Catholic, and part of our religion teaches us to believe in Heaven, that when we die there is more, it still made me wonder. The other worldly events leading up to my Mother’s death and her death itself, have cemented that belief for me. There must be more.
That tree sat barren for the next eleven months. I thought it also died that night,
but in early April, I noticed tiny buds forming on the branches. By the first week in May, the tree was in full, spectacular bloom and I wondered what would happen as we approached her anniversary.
Would those leaves fall again? They did not. For the next week, they remained that beautiful bright white and then, overnight, they transformed into a brilliant green.
It may sound like a coincidence or a fluke to some. I’d be hard-pressed to believe it if I didn’t experience it myself. But in my heart and soul, I know it was something. Now, every time I look at that tree, it reminds me it’s okay. It laid the way for beauty.