Tag: dendrobium

Spring in December

On By Ramon B.In Flowers for life6 Comments

mariels-orchids

Too often, life for me this past year had been one of the “challenging” variety. The recent week however has given me something to be hopeful about. For starters, I actually saw a rainbow across the road while driving home from a visit to Heritage Park. It had given me a surge of happiness and hopefulness. Could it have been a sign from Mariel? I’m not sure really but it had me turning up the music of my car stereo and simply enjoying the cool Sunday breeze. Also Samantha had asked me if we can go and watch the “Twilight” movie together. Of course I said yes, especially as it will afford me more bonding time with her. She’s growing up so fast and I know that she is beginning to want more independence. (I just keep reminding her though that I’m always there for her whenever she needs me). Finally, there is this thing with Mariel’s beloved orchids.

Many of you know that Mariel loved flowers. And that she had done her best to keep a small pocket garden at our home even as we did not have the space to maintain a bigger one. And that when she had passed away, I had somehow completely neglected her flower garden because we had moved out of the house for sometime. In fact, the flowers, particularly  the orchids were ultimately reduced to shriveled brown buds because no one was there anymore to tend to them for almost a year. Well, the good news is that my sister Alma had nursed them back to life, having “rescued” them from such a sorry state. It’s been something of a miracle that the dendrobiums have bloomed again (yes, the picture above). Life indeed promises us hope that Mariel now truly lives and thrives in God’s beautiful garden, and that someday we may also learn to smile again.

I know that there will still be more dark clouds ahead.  But today, I just want to relish these rare moments of joy. And as Oprah would say– “Living in the moment brings you a sense of reverence for all of life’s blessings”.

Thank you Mommy for your life of love. We love you always too!

Why Mariel loved flowers and why we love Mariel

On By Ramon B.In Flowers for life, Mariel's Life2 Comments

Mariel with flowers in MalaysiaMariel loved flowers. She would try to have fresh blooms at our home whenever possible. She also loved to work with orchids at her mini pocket garden. Vandas, dendrobium, cymbidium and other exotic names gave her some bliss. For she had a way with plants and greenery. It was her caring and gentle nature that showed when she patiently arranges every twist and turn of some wayward stems. She would even just breath new life into a bunch that looked sad and somewhat dejected.

Of course, she cared for me and her daughter Sam very much more. Her caring and gentle nature came to surface as usual as she made us feel alright when we’re sometimes down. She however rarely called attention to herself. I was so clueless that she was starting to suffer from that strange “connective tissue” illness that took her from us. In the midst of this, she even arranged a short vacation to Singapore for the three of us and made us happier than ever.

I also later found out that she had orange “salsa” roses placed on her office desk almost everyday. Like her, orange roses represent energy and enthusiasm. Now I make sure to have these kind whenever I visit her resting place at Heritage Park. Flowers they say are a symbol of “welcoming”. They also perk you up and positively change your mood every time. I guess that also best describes my Mariel. She will cheer you up when you most needed it. That’s why we miss her so much. So we look to the flowers and remember that Mariel was the very best part of our lives.

(By the way, if you wanted to know, I only remember giving her some tulips once in our years together. She of course never complained, she was too busy taking care of me.)