Gardenias and I go way back

Many years ago when I was in elementary school, I felt lonely a lot. I knew a lot of kids that I went to school with but I didnt have a best friend because the only best friend I had known was a year older than me in school and we didn't spend time together at school very much. I didn't feel as cool as she was. I was very naive and gullible and I got teased because of how I ate my sandwiches with my sensitive teeth. One day I felt particularly lonely and I didnt have any one to sit with at lunch so I went to the office and called my Mom. She asked if I wanted her to come to school and sit with me while I ate. I said yes. She came and I climbed in the car and we sat in the parking lot while I ate. She started to tell me about her Gardenia plant that she had in her front yard that wouldn't bloom. She had been waiting and waiting for it to bloom. Well that morning a flower had bloomed and she said it must have bloomed for me. So she picked that flower and she gave it to me. I cried and felt so blessed to have such a wonderful mother. After I finished eating I said goodbye to my Mom and hugged her. I started walking back to class and one of my friends from band saw me and asked why I was crying. I told her that I had felt lonely and that my Mom had saved the day. She put her arm around me and told me she would walk with me back to class.

When we moved into a house, I knew that I wanted to plant Gardenias so that I could always remember that day. I bought a Gardenia plant and planted it, I was worried because after a while it started to look a little droopy so I fertilized it and watered it more and it in a few days it started to look much better. All these little buds started growing and I was so excited for it to bloom. On Sunday I walked outside to find a small Gardenia flower. It is so beautiful and now there are so many of them. Thank you Mom. I hope I can be that kind of Mom.