Magnolias

[I'm getting ahead of myself again, but wanted to write this post while the magnolias were blooming.]

Magnolias remind me of two of my favorite people, both of whom are in heaven: my Grandma Miller, and Joy. I'll let my grandma's words speak for herself from a letter she sent me: "Grandpa and I want to do something in Joy Marie's memory.  I had thought of having a magnolia tree planted on your property.  It seemed appropriate because it is such a beautiful and delicate flower and we look forward to its blooming each year even though we know we be able to enjoy the blossoms for only a short time." 

After some discussion, we decided that there just wasn't a place in our already tree-filled yard to plant another tree.  We literally were going to have to cut a tree down to plant a new one, which seemed silly.  They ended up buying us a beautiful matching set of a necklace and keychain with Joy's footprints engraved on them instead.

But I'm kind of happy with the way the tree saga turned out. Because now instead of having a single magnolia tree planted in Joy's honor (and the responsibility of keeping it alive), I now think of every magnolia tree that I see as Joy's tree (and my grandma's too!),  Strangely enough, when I worked downtown, I walked past this pair of very realistic magnolia tree sculptures  a block from where I worked at Heinz Hall: 

Each time I see those pretty pink blooms I'm reminded of Joy's short but lovely life. So this spring (or anytime if you're on Penn Avenue), when you see a magnolia tree, join me in remembering our sweet girl and being reminded that life's value isn't measured by its length!