DEAR ABBY: I would like to share the following story that both saddened and inspired me.
My mother died in October of 1995, and it had always been her wish to be cremated so that she could help the soil grow wildflowers. We spread her ashes in the family cemetery. The following winter and spring were extremely dry in Texas. Spring rain was practically nonexistent and we had none of the usual wildflowers that typically paint our fields and highways. Lakes were very low and many crops were ruined.
My parents had been happily married for 49 years and her death was devastating to my father. He visited the cemetery often.
In March, when Dad drove to the cemetery for a visit, he couldn't believe his eyes. The area where we had laid mother's ashes was covered with small blue wildflowers! He wept while gathering some of them. He didn't know what kind of flowers they were, so after returning home, he showed them to a knowledgeable friend who replied, "These are forget-me-nots!" Despite the drought, my mother's last wish had come true, and she certainly chose the appropriate flower to grow. -- HER DAUGHTER, FARMER'S BRANCH, TEXAS
DEAR DAUGHTER: How fitting that your mother got her wish, and how appropriate the symbolism of the flowers that greeted your father when he went to pay his respects to the memory of his beloved wife.