I’ve had a heightened sense of everything around me since we lost Madison. So many little things remind me of her and our time together. Even the behavior of this plant we bought to remember her made me think about who she was. It came to us as a small bush with many potential buds. We have hopes for it to be a big, beautiful tree covered in purple flowers and thriving. We chose a spot for it that allowed us to look out the back door and see it grow. Almost immediately, one of the buds started to bloom. I was unreasonably excited about this little plant giving us a beautiful flower so quickly and spent a lot of time going outside and looking at it. Just as it was trying to open up, we got some cloudy weather and hail, damaging one of the beautiful petals. Despite that setback, it continued to open when the sun came out. This pretty flower keeps going no matter the odds and insists on showing off the beauty it still has.
Madison was very much like that. She never worried about failing or being wrong. Everything she went through definitely scared her, but she was always smiling afterward. She was small for her age, but her personality made her a large presence everywhere she went. She stood out in a crowd because of the joy that radiated off of her and the constant smile on her face. Even when she was in pain from her health issues, she kept going and continued to bring joy to others.
This little flower blooming despite being injured brought a smile to my face thinking about my strong baby girl. I admired her so much for her resilience through all the scary things she had to endure. We hope this small plant becomes that big, beautiful tree and continues to bring joy to us and future owners of our home.