She walked to the front of the room and slid a daisy into the vase.  Speaking softly, almost as if to the flower, she murmured, “For my dear mother who passed away two months ago.”  I was on the second row, about to sing with a small group at this hospice memorial service.  The poignant flower ritual was designed to honor and remember the deceased.

The vase eventually filled to overflowing – each flower representing a life lived.  I had a flash that one day, perhaps, my loved ones would place just such a flower in a vase to represent my life on earth.

“Isn’t it easy,” I mused, “to lose perspective.”  How often do I get caught up in the daily dramas of ordinary living:  kids growing up, financial transactions, business deals, and the minor bruises of living.  Isn’t it easy to ‘forget’ that the biggest transition of them all – from life to death – could come anytime, with or without warning?

So, I stop and savor life . . why wait to blossom?  I resolve to breathe in the full spectrum of being and unfurl into the moment, one petal at a time.  Yes, one day I will be remembered, a daisy in a vase.  Today, however, is my time to bloom.

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