How long do you think a bunch of Calla lilies should last? A couple of days? A week? Two weeks?  The flowers pictured above are six weeks old and far from looking decrepit, their trumpets are still flush with color and looking strong.  I’ve even been away on holiday for a week and barely changed their water.  It feels like a small miracle. And in case you think I am some kind of magical flower whisperer, you should know that the yellow mimosa I bought the same day, expired within 24 hours.

I bought these flowers on the fifth anniversary of Laura’s passing and the week before my birthday, as a little gift to myself.  It was a choice I swithered over because of a weird thing that happened with an identical bunch of purple and white Calla lilies that Laura and I bought on her last day out. It was the day we got our marriage license at City Hall. Laura was very sick by then and could barely stand. Two flowers in that bunch lasted exactly six weeks (see image below). They appeared to be propping each other up way beyond their sell-by date. When they finally expired, I knew it was all over.  Laura died a couple of days later.

So of course  I think it is Laura signaling her presence still. And I suspect she is competing with my mum (Laura loved a contest).  My mum has very definitely been signaling her spiritual presence in flowers since she passed. Everyday since she died in May, one or more plants in my apartment has been in bloom. It has been a non stop riot of color and scent like never before.

Spirits (at least my spirits) joyfully signal their presence through nature (plants and animals) and electrical things (flashing lights, music that spontaneously plays, and little orbs in my apartment and in photos). Some of my favorite signs from mum happened over Christmas.  Mum loved christmas, so I was quite nervous how our first Christmas would be without her. I couldn’t sleep the night before I flew to England.  But when I got there it was OK.  More than OK. When I was cooking and standing in her kitchen, the light overhead would flicker as if to say I am here beside you.  One night the light in my parents third bedroom went on spontaneously and stayed on all night. And on Christmas, after a beautiful day at my sister’s house, Dad and I returned home. Dad went up to bed and I went to switch off the hall light, but every time I switched it off, it came back on. It shone down for about five minutes. Until I started to laugh.  When I called up to my dad to see it, it switched itself off.

Note:  the 2019 Calla lilies lasted 8 and a half weeks!