Treats from a Halloween Heart

Dear My Toy Garden friends!

Thursday morning dawned with it's usual to dos. Shower. Dress. Wake the kids. Breakfast. Pack lunches. Load the car. Last Thursday though was a bit different. As I backed out of the garage, a flash of pink caught my eye. I smiled. I let my gaze return to the flash of pink. I stopped the car and returned it to the garage. I got out, grabbed a pair of snippers. There beside my garage door was the most perfect pink rose. It's petals softly opened, still wet with the morning dew. It's stem straight and strong and a deep shade of green making the pink even more brilliant. I snipped the rose and laid it in my car. I knew just what to do with this treasured last rose of summer. The same thing I'd done with each rose that was the first to bloom and each rose that was the last to bloom of the season.

You see this rose bush has some magic to it. The previous owner of our home was a woman named Monica and her family. Monica and her father had one of those rare relationships of deep love for one another. When Monica and her family moved in to the home, her father gave her 4 rose bushes. She planted one on each corner of the house to wrap it in her father's love. One of the bushes especially thrived in it's chosen spot.

Shortly after, they had a family surprise and their brood was due to grow from four to five. This led to a move around the corner to a home with a bit more space. Sadly the rose bush was left behind. As the new homeowner, I began the tradition of taking the first and last rose each summer as a gift to her from her father. It's become one of my favorite memories of each summer.

Last Thursday though, Monica did not receive my gift of the rose. I tucked it in the flag of her mailbox where it proudly stood awaiting it's discovery. Thursday passed. Friday passed. Then Saturday, an email arrived. "I just found a rose on the ground below my mailbox this morning; is it from you? If so, then I'm glad I found it (it looks like it had been there for a few days!) because today is the anniversary of my dad's death-4years now." Tis a magic rose bush indeed.

We each have the power to make a difference in the life of another. In these days of tricks and treats, take a moment from the chaos of life to look, to notice others, to give a treat to a friend, a neighbor, a total stranger. Drop a quarter on purpose in the store. Rake leaves for a neighbor as we did on Sunday. Place a treat in a mailbox. Cook dinner for a friend who could use an extra pair of hands. Write a handwritten note to someone. I love that Smokey Row Elementary used some of their Educator's Shopping Spree money to buy a gift for a student who was in the hospital. It takes but a moment to touch a heart and My Toy Garden is here to help!

Playfully,
Toylady Janet