new life in the garden

There I sat, alone in the surgical waiting room. The Gardener was having his ruptured appendix cared for. I don't remember feeling scared, but I probably was. I was only 26 or 27. Communication was not instant back then. No cell phones, no computers, no easy way to grab some friends to come and sit with me, especially with late night emergency surgery. I remember the doctor coming out and telling me how bad it was but how he thought he got the infected fluid pretty well cleaned out. Time would tell, he told me, as he got ready to leave for the night. Relatives didn't stay overnight at the hospital back then like they sometimes do now, so after things seemed stable, I drove home to our dark apartment.

I loved our little cozy second story flat along the railroad tracks, noisy as it was when a train came along. I had painted every room to my heart's content. I climbed the steps, unlocked the door, and turned on the lights, heading to our sweet little green bedroom under the alcoves. I had plants in the window ... or my attempt at them, as I didn't have a "green thumb" then and still don't. I don't remember much about any of that time, but this moment of turning on the bedroom light is as clear as if it had just happened.

Over in the window, a little dying asparagus fern I loved had sprung to life. New, healthy growth sprouted all over a previously dried up plant--just during my long day of work and the long night of the G's surgery. It was clear that it was a message from God, the Author of life. He could give a dying plant life, and He could give the Gardener new life.

This summer some major heat and lack of water about killed some of our garden plants. As the weather has tempered a bit, they too have come to life again with new color and vigor, as if they are pleased to be back. I love it when I see that happening. It makes me think of that little asparagus plant. Renewal. New life. Tender care.