Hello friends,
Of all the lilies in my garden, the lovely trumpet lily is the most “splendiferous,” a passing child once informed me. And, you know, I couldn’t agree more. Not only are these four to five feet tall lilies beautifully imposing when planted en masse, but their scent is heavenly. Thick, without being heavy, the sweet, intoxicating perfume draws you to each nodding bell, so that you are tempted to bury your face within its waxy petals. I cannot express to you just how much I miss that heavenly perfume.
You see, I have no sense of smell, and when the lilies are in bloom, I long for it. I wonder, as I see them multiplying year after year, if one day I’ll walk out my door, and simply be overcome with sight and scent. At least I fanaticize it will be so. The last sweet scent that I remember inhaling, was the delightful fragrance of our Trumpeter Lilies in their first year. Unremarkable to view, just singly nodding there, the sweet perfume nearly lifted me from the ground, and I almost floated over. I could not get close enough. I wanted to crawl right inside and stay for a thousand years.
That was years ago. Today, I can only gaze in wonder as the dazzling trumpets multiply, seemingly overnight. Will I never again experience that sweet smell? Along with that loss, fear grips me, daily, as diabetes also steals my sight.
“If that ever happens, Momma,” my daughters have promised me, “we will hold your hand and whisper all the colors into your ear, and we will recall each lovely essence, so that your soul will feel the fragrance again.” Perhaps I have romanticized their words, but the love which blossoms from their hearts, far surpasses the heady scent that I miss so much.
Trumpeter Lily is as easy to grow as any other lily. Large bulbs, planted six inches down, in well-drained, well mulched soil, with little care, will reward you for years with heavenly sight and scent. Don’t let a single blissful moment escape you, for should you, like me, begin to lose two of the five senses that God has blessed you with, you will want all your faculties to help you remember. And should you be as blessed as I am, you also may have someone who will whisper remembrances of colors and fragrance into your ears.
Heavenly Father, grant us the grace to gather each moment, each breath, each scent of our lives, like jeweled treasures into our hearts, so that when time and memory grows dim, we will not forget. And when we do remember, Lord, help us to be thankful for what we have, and not grieve over what we have lost. May we decide, now, how rich we will allow our lives to be, then, and may we do this with grateful hearts.
With love,
Jaye Lewis
www.entertainingangels.org
www.entertainingangelsencouragingwords.blogspot.com
www.jayelewisdiabetesdiary.blogspot.com
