Great

One of my neighbors had this tremendous, gorgeous tree in her front yard. Gorgeous to us neighbors, perhaps, as it was grand and rich with foliage, and the shade was lovely. Not so much gorgeous to her, as she was the keeper of the tree, thereby the raker of the leaves and the pruner of the branches. I'm talking major tree work. Well, this past February - after so many years and being very tired of the upkeep required - she had the tree cut down. Removed entirely. The roots shaved down, and the stump gone. Aaack. It was a bit of a shock, seeing all of that space, all of that grass and remains of the Great Tree That Was. Well, lo and behold, last month something popped up from where the center of the trunk had been. I thought it was a piece of stray paper that had fallen out of someone's trash, and blown across her yard. Very odd. A closer look showed that it was a bud. Huh? How can this be? A little green bud popping out of what used to be a huge tree, from a spot thought to be dead. So I waited a few days. Then something bright red popped through the green. Holy smokes, it's a tulip. A perfect, pint-sized tulip. Honest to God. Bright cherry red, with the greenest of leaves. Taking quite a chance to root and grow on the site where something else had been - strong and lush - something that had been cut down. A bit risky, eh? But isn't that a good thing? That piece of ground was meant to be something, meant to be the support system and foundation for something great. Yes the tree was great. But isn't the tulip as well? To grow and to blossom is great - no matter where or when - and no matter how it happens. And great in size is not to be measured in inches or feet, but to be measured in strength of the spirit and beauty of the soul. So much that is beautiful and great blossoms from whatever was.

So the next time I am feeling like that tree - cut down and nonexistent - I need to know that I can always choose to root again from that very spot. I can choose to be the tulip.