Mrs. Hubbard's Spider Lily( the REAL reason Flowers are Beautiful)

I drove up to my friend Ann's house so that I could do some work at her house- when I turned into the driveway, there IT was... standing tall and straight.. like a skinny soldier standing at attention- green and thin was the stem..but at the top was a crown- a crown made of reddish finger- like petals.and yeah.. They DO KINDA LOOK LIKE SPIDER LEGS!!. curled upward and outward- like a hand that is about to catch something... and IT did..... I ran in and just started speaking to Ann.. no hello- no good morning, no asking" How are you today?( yep.... it's true . I was acting like a yankee... marching in and making statements, with no regard for the mood of my listener).. I looked at her and said," Ok.. the flower with the red skinny petals at the corner of the... " before I could finish my exciting story about the lovely flower that caught me, she spoke," That was from Mrs. Hubbard, it's called a Spider Lily".... Funny is'nt it??? First she mentioned WHO gave the bulbs to her.. then it was on to the"common " name of the plant , then on to the species... I started thinking about flowers and plants.. and what really makes them beautiful. Flowers are beautiful because they remind us of people that we have known and loved- Remember the flowers that you recieved when your child was born... your friends celebrated that joyous day with you , even if they were unable to visit you at the hospital... and everytime you seeTHAT KIND of rose, you remember that day. You remember the love that you felt from your friends who rejoiced with you! The shrubs and plants that are given to us from someone's garden are beautiful because of the history that we Share with those green and flowery friends- Ann began visiting Mrs Hubbard many years ago... she saw those Spider lilys as they magically appeared through the years. The plants and shrubs at Mrs. Hubbards home grew... and grew.. just like the friendship between a hardheaded, witty, southern lady and her equally witty and winsome yankee neighbor. The" roots" grew deep- ... and became strong...- so did the plants and shrubs!!!...Mrs. Hubbard passed away many years ago.... but every so often, a skinny green stem pops up out of nowhere, stretches her finger-like petals toward the sky and shows off her bright colors...and Ann thinks of Mrs. Hubbard... .