Laurel was diagnosed with skin cancer ten years ago today.
She has told me it was the event that made some very important decisions for her.
Every year, I mark the anniversary of her diagnosis, and the anniversary of the day
she got the news that she was cancer free.
I usually commemorate these occasions with flowers — she loves flowers. This year,
for the tenth anniversary of her cancer diagnosis, I did something very special.
A couple of years ago, in commemoration of her cancer scare, she selected several
flowers that have significance for her and asked her mother, an artist, to draw them
for her. She then took that finished drawing to a highly talented tattoo artist, and
had it committed to her skin. Her mother took it a little further and painted the flowers
as a watercolor, which I had framed.
So this year, I took a digital photo of the watercolor and sent it to a local flower
shop (I later used it to make the images you see here). Today I expect that shop to
deliver a replica of that piece as a floral arrangement. I'm very curious to know if
she'll realize it. My surmise is that she'll see customary bright flowers, but I don't
know if she'll catch on.
Every year when I order flowers for these occasions I end up somewhere between misty
and completely bawling to the poor clerk taking my call. Not this year: This year, I saved it until
I typed this.
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