Pen pals

Or text pals, oh what joy. For the past five years, my SIL Donna and I have been sharing letters, laughs, encouragement, flowers pix and so much more. She loved butterflies, flowers and her cat named, Fraidy (which was a feral cat who claimed her) This past March, I started sending flower pix from my yard, of which, the Lenten rose was all I had. Living in sunny Florida, Donna had started a butterfly garden- I lived to see those flowers from her front door. So the weather started getting warmer, and I would send a couple of pics a day of the White House gardens, which is really a scrapbook of my life. I have iris from Grandma White, peonies from my friend’s Aunt Frances, and many more. She thought that was cool. Basically the more I share the more flowers I get. Donna and I especially enjoyed the blooming yucca, starting out like an alien pod and bursting forth with hundreds of sweet smelling, bell shaped blooms. We watched that yucca daily across the miles spring forth. I loved the stories Donna shared about her brothers and sisters growing up, and I’m not surprised she was a ping pong champ and my brother’s wife. What we really didn’t speak of much was the damn cancer. It didn’t win, she did-living her life as fully as she could, making me laugh, helping me pick out my mother- of- the- bride dress, and so many warm stories I will hold close to my heart. Some may think of heaven and pearly gates, but I think Donna is just around up on that next plateau, gardening, laughing and sprinkling love and blessings down on those she left behind. I’ll be seeing you someday sweet Donna ❤️