Some things never really change...
My mom sent me this picture the other day. Just a simple picture of four little Rudbeckia blooms in a flower bed. The message said: "Diana got me your lovely flower today and I planted it in the same spot you did many years ago. Love you."
It is often said that "a picture is worth a thousand words." This picture and these words are worth, well, are priceless. They brought back so many warm memories. I had bought a budding Rudbeckia plant from an AUB* greenhouse and flower market the students from the School of Agriculture had set up on a small stretch of land in the lower AUB campus, back in my undergraduate days. It was a magnet for me on my daily walk up and down the endless winding Chemistry stairs. I had to stop there each time, even if just long enough to snap a mental picture of the colorful beauties or catch a few fragrant breaths. A big part of my allowance those days used to go towards flowers and that was one more place to find them.
I planted my bud in the very same spot where my mom planted hers a few days ago. My little plant bloomed for years under my watchful and delighted eyes and grew in gigantic proportions claiming a good chunk of the bed for itself. It constantly filled our vases with sunny joy. For years after I had left, it was there to happily greet me every time I went back home for a visit-a reassurance that things hadn't changed that much and that my mark was still there, at our beloved summer home in the Lebanese mountains...
Until one day, it died. I had been gone a long time indeed.
Today, a Rudbeckia blooms back again in the very same spot, a sweet reminder that some good things never really change.
Thank you mama and Poush. I love you both sooo much.
